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STUDIES 


IN   THE 


Psychology  of  Sex 


BY 


HAVELOCK  ELLIS 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/evolutionofmodesOOelli 


STUDIES 


IN  Tin: 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SEX 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MODESTY 
THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SEXUAL  PEKIODICUPY 

AUTO-EROTISM 


BY 


HAVELOCK^LLIS 


PHILADELPHIA,  NEW  YORK.  CHICAGO 

F.    A.    DAVIS    COMPANY,    PUBLISHERS 

1901  N 


COPYRIGHT,  1900. 

BT 

THE  F.  A    DAVIS  COMPANY 


Philadelphia.  Pa..  I'.  S.  A.: 

The  Medical  Bnllelin  Printin^-Hous*. 

1916  Cherry  Street 


MM, 


PEEFACE. 


The  present  volume  contains  three  studies  which  se^m  to 
me  to  be  necessary  prolegomena  to  that  analysis  of  the  sexual 
instinct  which  must  form  the  chief  part  of  an  investigation  into 
the  psychology  of  sex.  The  first  sketches  the  main  outlines  of 
a  complex  emotional  state  which  is  of  fundamental  importance 
in  sexual  psychology;  the  second,  by  bringing  together  evidence 
from  widely  different  regions,  suggests  a  tentative  explanation 
of  facts  that  are  still  imperfectly  known;  the  third  attempts  to 
show  that  even  in  fields  where  we  assume  our  knowledge  to  be 
adequate  a  broader  view  of  the  phenomena  teaches  us  to  sus- 
pend judgment  and  to  adopt  a  more  cautious  attitude.  So  far 
as  they  go,  these  studies  are  complete  in  themselves;  their  spe- 
cial use,  as  an  introduction  to  a  more  comprehensive  analysis  of 
sexual  phenomena,  is  that  they  bring  before  us,  under  varying 
aspects,  a  characteristic  which,  though  often  ignored,  is  of  the 
first  importance  in  obtaining  a  clear  understanding  of  the  facts: 
the  tendency  of  the  sexual  impulse  to  appear  in  a  spontaneous 
and  to  some  extent  periodic  manner,  affecting  women  differently 
from  men.  This  is  a  tendency  which,  later,  I  hope  to  make  still 
more  apparent,  for  it  has  practical  and  social,  as  well  as  psycho- 
logical, implications.  Here — and  more  especially  in  the  study 
of  those  spontaneous  solitary  manifestations  which  I  call  auto- 
erotic — I  have  attempted  to  clear  the  ground,  and  to  indicate 
the  main  lines  along  which  the  progress  of  our  knowledge  in 
these  fields  mav  best  be  attained. 

It  may  surprise  many  medical  readers  that  in  the  third  and 
longest  study  I  have  said  little,  save  incidentally,  either  of  treat- 
ment or  prevention.  The  omission  of  such  considerations  at  this 
stage  is  intentional.  It  may  safely  be  said  that  in  no  other  field  of 
human  activitv  is  so  vast  an  amount  of  strenuous  didactic  moral- 


VI  PREFACE. 

ity  founded  on  so  slender  a  basis  of  facts.  In  most  other  depart- 
ments of  life  we  at  least  make  a  pretence  of  learning  before  we 
presume  to  teach:  in  the  field  of  sex  we  content  ourselves  with 
the  smallest  and  vaguest  minimum  of  information,  often  osten- 
tatiously second-hand,  usually  unreliable.  I  wish  to  emphasize 
the  fact  that  before  we  can  safely  talk  either  of  curing  or  pre- 
venting these  manifestations  we  must  know  a  great  deal  more 
than  we  know  at  present  regarding  their  distribution,  etiology, 
and  symptomatology;  and  we  must  exercise  the  same  coolness 
and  caution  as — if  our  work  is  to  be  fruitful — we  require  in  any 
other  field  of  serious  study.  We  must  approach  these  facts  as 
physicians,  it  is  true,  but  also  as  psychologists,  primarily  con- 
cerned to  find  out  the  workings  of  such  manifestations  in  fairly 
healthy  and  normal  people.  If  we  found  a  divorce-court  judge 
writing  a  treatise  on  marriage  we  should  smile.  But  it  is  equally 
absurd  for  the  physician,  so  long  as  his  knowledge  is  confined  to 
disease,  to  write  regarding  sex  at  large;  valuable  as  the  facts  he 
brings  forward  may  he.  he  can  never  be  in  a  position  to  generalize 
concerning  them.  And  to  me,  at  all  events,  it  seems  that  we  have 
had  more  tlian  enough  pictures  of  gross  sexual  perversity,  whether 
furnished  Ijy  tlie  asylum  or  the  brothel.  They  are  only  really 
instructive  when  they  are  seen  in  their  proper  ]>erspective  as  the 
rare  and  ultimate  extremes  of  a  chain  of  phenomena  which  we 
may  more  profitably  study  nearer  home. 

Yet,  although  we  are,  on  every  hand,  surrounded  l)y  the 
normal  manifestations  of  sex,  conscious  or  unconscious,  these 
manifestations  are  extremely  diHicult  to  observe,  and.  in  those 
cases  in  whicli  we  nre  best  able  to  observe  thenu  it  freinieutly 
happens  that  we  ai'c  iiiinl)l('  to  make  any  use  of  our  knowledge. 
Moreover,  even  wlicii  wc  have  ol)tained  our  data,  the  dilliciilties — 
at  all  events,  for  an  English  investigator — are  by  no  means  over- 
come Ife  may  take  for  granted  that  any  serious  and  jirecise 
study  of  the  sexual  instinct  will  not  meet  with  general  approvnl; 
his  work  will  be  misunderstood:  his  motives  will  be  cmIKmI  in 
question:  among  those  for  whom  he  is  chiefly  working  he  will 
find  indinVrence.  Indeed,  the  pioneer  in  this  field  may  well 
count  himself  ]ia|)py  if  he  meet.-  with  nothing  worse  tluni  indif- 


i'KEFACE.  Ml 

ference.  Hence  it  is  thai  the  present  volume  will  not  be  pub- 
lished in  England.  l)iit  that,  availinu'  myself  of  the  generous 
sympathy  with  which  my  woik  has  been  received  in  America,  I 
have  sought  the  wider  medical  and  scientific  audience  of  the 
United  States.  In  matters  of  faith,  "liberty  of  prophesying"  was 
centuries  since  eloquently  vindicated  for  Englishmen;  the  liberty 
of  investigating  facts  is  still  called  in  question,  under  one  pre- 
tence or  another,  and  to  seek  out  the  most  vital  facts  of  life  is 
still  in  England  a  pei-ilous  task. 

I  desire  most  heartily  to  thank  the  iiuiuerous  friends  and 
correspondents,  some  living  in  remote  parts  of  the  world,  who 
have  freely  assisted  me  in  my  work  with  valuable  information 
and  personal  histories.  To  Mr.  E.  H.  Perry-Coste  I  owe  an  ap- 
pendix which  is  by  far  the  most  elaborate  attempt  yet  made  to 
find  evidence  of  periodicity  in  the  spontaneous  sexual  manifesta- 
tions of  sleep;  my  debts  to  various  medical  and  other  correspond- 
ents are  duly  stated  in  the  text.  To  many  women  friends  and 
correspondents  I  may  here  express  my  gratitude  for  the  manner 
in  which  they  have  furnished  me  with  intimate  personal  records, 
and  for  the  cross-examination  to  which  they  have  allowed  me  to 
subject  them.  I  may  already  say  here,  what  I  shall  have  occa- 
sion to  say  more  emphatically  in  subsequent  volumes,  that  with- 
out the  assistance  I  have  received  from  women  of  fine  intelligence 
and  high  character  my  work  would  be  impossible.  I  regret  that 
I  camiot  make  my  thank-  more  specific. 

Havelock  Ellis. 

Carbis  Water. 
Lelant.  Cornwall.  England. 


CONTENTS. 


The  Evolution  of  Modesty. 

The  Definition  of  Modesty.  INIodesty  based  on  Fear.  The  Sexual 
Factor  of  Modesty.  In  Animals  and  in  Men.  The  Origin  of  tlie 
Attitude  of  the  Medicean  Venus.  The  Sexual  Factor  of  Modesty 
based  on  Sexual  Periodicity.  The  Aptitude  for  Disgust  as  a  Fac- 
tor of  Modesty.  The  Modesty  of  Savages  in  Regard  to  Eating  in 
the  Presence  of  Others.  Why  the  Sacro-Pubic  Region  is  a  Focus 
of  Disgust.  The  Idea  of  Ceremonial  Uncleanliness.  How  the 
Face  Becomes  a  Focus  of  Modesty.  Modesty  and  Coquetry. 
Ornament  and  Clothing.  Modesty  Becomes  Concentrated  in  the 
Garment.  The  Economic  Factor  in  Modesty.  The  Contribution 
of  Civilization  to  Modesty.  The  Elaboration  of  Social  Ritual. 
The  Blush  the  Sanction  of  Modesty.  As  Civilization  advances 
Modesty  Tends  to  Become  Extended,  but  not  Intensified 1 

The  Phenomena  of  Sexual  Periodicity. 

I. 

The  Various  Physiological  and  Psychological  Rhythms.  Menstrua- 
tion. The  Alleged  Influence  of  the  Moon.  Frequent  Suppression 
of  Menstruation  among  Primitive  Races.  Mittelschmerz.  Pos- 
sible Tendency  to  a  Future  Intermenstrual  Cycle.  Menstruation 
among  Animals.  Menstruating  Monkeys  and  Apes.  What  is 
Menstruation?  Its  Primary  Cause  still  Obscured.  The  Relation 
of  Menstruation  to  Ovulation.  The  Occasional  Absence  of  Men- 
struation in  Health.  The  Relation  of  Menstruation  to  "Heat." 
The  Prohibition  of  Intercourse  during  Menstruation.  The  Pre- 
dominance of  Sexual  Excitement  at  and  Around  the  Menstrual 
Period.  Its  Absence  during  the  Period  Frequently  Apparent 
only 49 

II. 

The  Question  of  a  Monthly  Sexual  Cycle  in  Men.  The  Earliest  Sug- 
gestions of  a  General  Physiological  Cycle  in  Men.  Periodicity  in 
Disease.    Insanit}^  Heart  Disease,  etc.    The  Alleged  Twenty-three 

(ix) 


X  cox  TEXTS. 

Days'  Cycle.  The  Physiological  Periodicity  of  Seminal  Emissions 
during  Sleep.  Original  Observations.  Fortnightly  and  Weekly 
Rhythms   07 

111. 

The  Annual  Sexual  Rhythm.  In  Animals.  In  ^len.  Tendency  of  the 
Sexual  Imj)ulse  to  Become  Heightened  in  Spring  and  Autumn. 
The  Prevalence  of  Seasonal  Erotic  Festivals.  The  Feast  ot  Fools. 
The  Easter  and  Midsummer  Bonfires.  The  Seasonal  Variations 
in  Birth-rate.  The  Causes  of  those  Variations.  The  Typical  Con- 
ception-rate Curve  for  Europe.  The  Seasonal  Periodicity  of  Sem- 
inal Emissions  during  Sleep.  Original  Observations.  Spring  and 
Autumn  the  Chief  Periods  of  Involuntary  Sexual  E.xcitement. 
The  Seasonal  Periodicity  of  Rapes.  Of  Outbreaks  among  Prison- 
ers. The. Seasonal  Curves  of  Insanity  and  Suicide.  The  Growtli 
of  Children  according  to  Season.  The  Annual  Curve  of  Bread- 
consumption  in  Piisons.  Seasonal  Periodicity  of  Scarlet  Fever. 
The   Underlying  Causes   of  these   Seasonal   Phenomena 80 


'o 


Auto-erotism :    A  Study  oi-   the  Spontaneous  Mani- 
festations OF  THE  Sexual  Impulse. 

I. 

Definition  ol  Auto-erotism.  Masturbation  only  Covers  a  Small  i'or- 
tion  of  tlie  Auto-erotic  Field.  The  Importance  of  this  Study, 
Especially  To-day.  Auto-erotic  Phenomena  in  Animals.  Among 
Savage  and  Barbaric  Races.  The  Japanese  rin-iKi-liiiiKi  and 
other  Sjjccial  Instruments  for  Obtaining  Auto-erotic  Oratifica- 
tion.  Abuse  of  the  Ordinary  Imi)lements  and  Objects  of  Daily 
Life.  The  Frequency  of  Hair-pin  in  the  Bladder.  The  Influence 
of  Hor.se-exercise  and  Railway-traveling.  The  Sewing-machiin' 
and  the  Bicycle.  Spontaneous  Passive  Sexual  Excitement.  Dc- 
Icctdtio  Moidsd.  Day-dn-aming.  Polliit'ni.  Sexual  Excitement 
during  Slccj).  Ditlerences  in  the  Erotic  Dreams  of  Men  and 
WomeiL  The  Auto-erotic  Phenomena  of  Sleep  in  the  Hysterical, 
'i'licir   l''rc(|ii('nt  ly   Painful  Character 110 

IT. 

Hysteria  and  the  Question  of  its  Relation  to  the  Sexual  Fmotions. 
Tlie  Early  (Jieek  Theories  of  its  Nature  antl  Causation.  The 
Gradual  Rise  of  Modern  \'ie\vs.  Charcot.  The  Revolt  against 
Charcot's  too-absolute  Conclusions.  Fallacies  Involved.  Char- 
cot's   Attitude    the    Outcome    of    his     Personal    Temperament. 


CONTENTS.  XI 

Breiier  and  Freud.  Siiiiiinaiy  of  their  liivesli<rations.  Breuer 
and  Freud's  views  Supplement  and  Complete  ('harcot's.  At  the 
Same  Time  they  Furnish  a  Justification  for  the  Earlier  Doc- 
trine of  Hysteria.  But  they  Must  Not  be  Regarded  as  Final. 
The  Difl'used  Hysteroid  Condition  in  Normal  Persons.  The 
Physiological  Basis  of  Hysteria.  True  Pathological  Hysteria 
is  Linked  on  to  almost  Normal  States,  Especially  to  Sex- 
hunger    139 

III. 

The  Prevalence  of  Masturbation,  its  Occurrence  in  Infancy  and 
Childhood.  Is  it  More  Frequent  in  Males  or  Females?  After 
Adolescence  Apparently  more  Frequent  in  Women.  Reasons  for 
the  Sexual  Distribution  of  Masturbation.  The  Evils  Attributed 
to  Masturbation.  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Views  held  on  this 
Point.  The  Symptoms  and  Results  of  Masturbation.  Its 
Alleged  Influence  in  Causing  Eye-disorders.  Its  Relation  to 
Insanity  and  Nervous  Disorders.  The  Evil  Effects  of  Mastur- 
bation Usually  Occur  on  the  Basis  of  a  Congenitally-^Iorbid 
Nervous  System.  Neurasthenia  Probably  the  Commonest  Ac- 
companiment of  Excessive  Masturbation.  Precocious  Mastur- 
bation Tends  to  Produce  Aversion  to  Coitus.  Psychical  Results 
of  Habitual  Masturbation.  Masturbation  in  INIen  of  Genius. 
Masturbation  as  a  Nervous  Sedative.  Typical  Cases.  The 
Greek  Attitude  toward  Masturbation.  Attitude  of  the  Catholic 
Theologians.  The  Mohammedan  Attitude.  The  Modern  Scien- 
tific Attitude.  The  Immense  Part  in  Life  Played  by  Transmuted 
Auto-erotic    Phenomena 165 

APPENDIX  A. 
The  Influence  of  Menstruation  on  the  Position  of  Women 205 

APPENDIX  B. 
Sexual  Periodicity  in  ^len 218 

APPENDIX  C. 

The  Auto-erotic   Factor   in   Religion 231 

Index    245 

Diagrams     ' 257 


THE  EVOLUTION^  OF  MODESTY. 


The  Definition  of  Modesty— Modesty  Based  on  Fear — The  Sexual 
Factor  of  Modesty — In  Animals  and  in  Men — The  Origin  of  the  Attitude 
of  the  Medicean  Venus — The  Sexual  Factor  of  Modesty  Based  on  Sexual 
Periodicity — The  Aptitude  for  Disgust  as  a  Factor  of  Modesty — The 
Modesty  of  Savages  in  Regard  to  Eating  in  the  Presence  of  Others — ^Miy 
the  Sacro-pubic  Region  is  a  Focus  of  Disgust — The  Idea  of  Ceremonial 
Uncleanliness — How  the  Face  Becomes  a  Focus  of  Modesty — Modesty 
and  Coquetry — Ornament  and  Clothing — Modesty  Becomes  Concentrated 
in  the  Garment — The  Economic  Factor  in  Modesty — The  Contribution  of 
Civilization  to  Modesty — The  Elaboration  of  Social  Ritual — The  Blush 
the  Sanction  of  Modesty — As  Civilization  advances  Modesty  Tends  to 
become  Extended,  but  not  Intensified. 

Modesty, — which  may  be  provisionally  defined  as  an  almost 
instinctive  fear  prompting  to  concealment,  and  nsually  centering 
around  the  sexual  processes, — while  common  to  both  sexes,  is 
more  peculiarly  feminine,  so  that  it  may  almost  be  regarded  as  the 
chief  secondary  sexual  character  of  women  on  the  psychical  side. 
The  woman  who  is  lacking  in  this  kind  of  fear  is  lacking,  also, 
in  sexual  attractiveness  to  the  normal  and  average  man.  The 
apparent  exceptions  seem  to  prove  the  rule,  for  it  will  generally 
be  found  that  the  women  who  are,  not  immodest  (for  immodesty 
is  more  closely  related  to  modesty  than  mere  negative  absence  of 
the  sense  of  modesty),  but  without  that  fear  which  implies  the 
presence  of  a  complex  emotional  feminine  organization  to  defend, 
only  make  a  strong  sexual  appeal  to  men  who  are  themselves 
lacking  in  the  complementary  masculine  qualities.  As  a  psy- 
chical secondary  sexual  character  of  the  first  rank,  it  is  necessary 
before  any  psychology  of  sex  can  be  arranged  in  order,  to  obtain 
a  clear  view  of  modesty. 

The  immense  importance  of  feminine  modesty  in  creating  mascu- 
line passion  must  be  fairly  obvious.     1  may,  however,  quote  the  observa- 

(1) 


2  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

tions  of  two  writers  who  have  shown  evidence  of  insight  and  knowledge 
regarding  tliis  matter. 

Casanova  describes  how,  when  at  Berne,  lie  went  to  the  baths,  and 
was,  according  to  custom,  attended  by  a  young  girl,  whom  he  selected 
from  a  group  of  bath  attendants.  She  undressed  him,  proceeded  to  un- 
dress herself,  and  then  entered  the  bath  with  him,  and  rubbed  him 
thoroughly  all  over,  the  operation  being  performed  in  the  most  serious 
manner  and  without  a  word's  being  spoken.  When  all  was  over,  how- 
ever, he  perceived  that  the  girl  had  expected  him  to  make  advances,  and 
he  thus  proceeds  to  moralize  on  his  own  feelings  of  indiflFerence  under  such 
circumstance.  "Though  without  gazing  on  the  girl's  figure,  I  had  seen 
enougli  to  recognize  that  she  had  all  that  a  man  can  desire  to  find  in  a 
woman:  a  beautiful  face,  lively  and  well-formed  eyes,  a  beautiful  mouth 
with  good  teeth,  a  healthy  complexion,  well-developed  breasts,  and  every- 
thing in  harmony.  It  is  true  that  I  had  felt  that  her  hands  could  have 
been  smoother,  but  I  could  only  attribute  this  to  hard  work;  moreover, 
my  Swiss  girl  was  only  eighteen,  and  yet  1  remained  entirely  cold.  What 
was  the  cause  of  this?  That  was  the  question  that  I  asked  myself. 
It  was,  perhaps,  because  she  was  too  near  to  nature,  because  she  had 
not  those  graces,  that  coquetry,  those  pretty  little  grimacing  airs  that 
women  employ  with  so  much  art  to  seduce  us.  But  do  we  then  only 
love  artifices  and  falsehood?  Perhaps  also  we  need,  in  order  to  irritate 
our  senses,  to  define  charms  through  the  veil  of  modesty.  But  if  in  our 
manner  of  clothing,  the  face,  which  is  open  to  every  one.  is  that  whicli 
is  least  important  to  our  entire  satisfaction,  A\hy  is  it  that  the  face 
plays  the  principal  part,  why  is  it  that  by  the  face  we  fall  in  love, 
why  by  its  testimony  alone  do  we  judge  the  beauty  of  a  woman,  and 
why  do  we  forgive  her  when  the  parts  which  she  conceals  are  not  in 
harmony  with  her  pretty  face?  Would  it  not  be  more  natural,  and, 
especially,  more  reasonable,  and  more  advantageous,  to  cover  the  face, 
and  to  leave  the  rest  of  the  body  uncovered?  In  this  way,  when  we 
fall  in  love  we  need  only  desire  a  ])hysiognomy  which  corresponds  to 
the  charms  that  have  attracted  us.  No  doubt,  that  would  be  preferable, 
for  we  sliould  only  be  seduced  then  by  perfect  beauty,  and  we  should 
easily  forgive  when,  on  the  mask's  being  raised,  we  found  an  ugly  face 
where  we  expected  to  find  a  beautiful  one.  It  would  then  ]ia])pen  that 
an  ugly  woman,  happy  to  seduce  by  the  beauty  of  her  figure,  would 
be  tlie  only  one  who  would  never  consent  to  unveil,  while  the  beautiful 
ones  would  not  need  begging  to  show  their  faces.  The  ugly  ones  would 
not  cause  us  to  sigh  long.  They  would  be  facile  in  order  not  to  be 
forced  to  show  themselves,  and.  if  they  consented  to  unmask,  it  would 
only  be  after  having  convinced  us  by  enjoyment  that  man  can  be  happy 
without  the  beauty  of  the  face.  It  is,  besides,  evident  tliat  inconstancy 
in  love   onlv  exists  on   account   oi  \ho  diversity  of  faces.      Tf  one   never 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MODESTY.  6 

saw  them,  one  would  be  always  constant  to,  and  even  in  love  with, 
the  first  woman  that  one  fell  in  love  with.  I  know  that  all  this  reason- 
ing will  be  called  mad  by  many  madmen,  but  I  shall  not  be  there  to 
answer  them."      ("IMemoires,"  edition  Garnier,  vol.  iv,  pp.  393-94.) 

"It  is  clear,"  wrote  Stendhal,  "that  three  parts  of  modesty  are 
taught.  This  is,  perhaps,  the  only  law  born  of  civilization  which  pro- 
duces nothing  but  happiness.  It  has  been  observed  that  birds  of  prey 
hide  themselves  to  drink,  because,  being  obliged  to  plunge  their  heads 
in  the  water,  they  are  at  that  moment  defenceless.  After  having  con- 
sidered A\liat  passes  at  Otaheite,  I  can  see  no  other  natural  foundation 
for  modesty.  Love  is  the  miracle  of  civilization.  Among  savage  and 
very  barbarous  races  we  find  nothing  but  physical  love  of  a  gross  char- 
acter. It  is  modesty  that  gives  to  love  the  aid  of  imagination,  and  in 
so  doing  imparts  life  to  it.  Modesty  is  very  early  taught  to  little  girls 
by  their  mothers,  and  with  extreme  jealousy,  one  might  say,  by  esprit 
de  corps.  They  are  watching  in  advance  over  the  happiness  of  the 
future  lover.  To  a  timid  and  tender  woman  there  ought  to  be  no 
greater  torture  tlian  to  allow  herself  in  the  presence  of  a  man  some- 
thing which  she  thinks  she  ought  to  blush  at.  I  am  convinced  that  a 
proud  woman  would  prefer  a  thousand  deaths.  A  slight  liberty  taken 
on  the  tender  side  by  the  man  she  loves  gives  a  woman  a  moment  of 
keen  pleasure,  but  if  he  has  the  air  of  blaming  her  for  it,  or  only  of  not 
enjoying  it  with  transport,  an  awful  doubt  must  be  left  in  her  mind. 
For  a  woman  above  tlie  vulgar  level  there  is,  then,  everything  to  gain 
by  very  reserved  manners.  The  play  is  not  equal.  She  hazards  against 
a  slight  pleasure,  or  against  the  advantage  of  appearing  a  little  amiable, 
the  danger  of  biting  remorse,  and  a  feeling  of  shame  which  must  render 
even  the  lover  less  dear.  An  evening  passed  gaily  and  thoughtlessly, 
without  thinking  of  what  comes  after,  is  dearly  paid  at  this  price.  The 
sight  of  a  lover  witli  wliom  one  fears  that  one  has  had  this  kind  of 
wrong  must  become  odious  for  several  days.  Can  one  be  surprised  at 
the  force  of  a  habit,  the  slightest  infractions  of  which  are  punished  with 
such  atrocious  shame?  As  to  the  utility  of  modesty,  it  is  the  mother 
of  love.  As  to  the  mechanism  of  the  feeling,  nothing  is  simpler.  The 
mind  is  absorbed  in  feeling  shame  instead  of  being  occupied  with  desire. 
Desires  are  forbidden,  and  desires  lead  to  actions.  It  is  evident  that 
every  tender  and  proud  woman — and  these  two  things,  being  cause  and 
effect,  naturally  go  together— must  contract  habits  of  coldness  which 
the  people  whom  she  disconcerts  call  prudery.  The  power  of  modesty 
is  so  great  that  a  tender  woman  betrays  herself  w  ith  her  lover  rather 
by  deeds  than  by  words.  The  evil  of  modesty  is  that  it  constantly 
leads  to  falsehood."      (Stendhal.  "De  I'Amour,"  Cliapler  XXVI.) 

An  interesting  testimony  to  the  part  played  by  modesty  in  effect- 
ing the  union  of  the  sexes  is  furnished  by  the  fact — to  Avhich  attention 


4  PSYCHOLOGY   OF    SEX. 

has  often  been  called — that  the  special  modesty  of  women  usually  tends 
to  disappear  with  the  complete  gratification  of  the  sexual  impulses. 
This  may  be  noted  among  savage  as  well  as  among  civilized  women. 
Viazzi  ("Pudore  nell  'uomo  e  nella  donna,"  Revista  M  ensile  di 
PsicJiiatria  Forense,  1898),  indeed,  following  Sergi,  argues  that  men  are, 
throughout,  more  modest  than  women;  but  the  points  he  brings  forward, 
though  often  just,  scarcely  justify  his  conclusion.  While  the  young  vir- 
gin, however,  is  more  modest  and  shy  than  the  young  man  of  the  same 
age,  the  experienced  married  woman  is  usualh'  less  so  than  her  husband. 
She  has  put  off  a  sexual  livery  that  has  no  longer  any  part  to  play  in 
life,  and  would,  indeed,  be  inconvenient  and  harmful,  just  as  a  bird 
loses  its  sexual  plumage  when  the  pairing  season  is  over.^ 

]Madame  Celine  Eenooz,  in  a  recent  elaborate  study  of  the  psycho- 
logical sexual  dififerences  between  men  and  women  ("Psychologic  Com- 
paree  de  I'Homme  et  de  la  Femme,"  1898,  pp.  85-87),  also  believes  that 
modesty  is  not  really  a  feminine  characteristic.  "]\Iodesty,"  she  argues, 
"is  masculine  shame  attributed  to  women  for  two  reasons:  first,  because 
man  believes  that  woman  is  subject  to  the  same  laws  as  himself;  sec- 
ondly, because  the  course  of  human  evolution  has  reversed  the  psychology 
of  the  sexes,  attributing  to  women  the  psychological  results  of  masculine 
sexuality.  This  is  the  origin  of  the  conventional  lies  Avhich  by  a  sort  of 
social  suggestion  have  intimidated  women.  They  have,  in  appearance 
at  least,  accepted  the  rule  of  shame  imposed  on  them  by  men,  but  only 
custom  inspires  the  modesty  for  which  they  are  praised;  it  is  really  an 
outrage  to  their  sex.  This  reversal  of  psychological  laws  has,  however, 
only  been  accepted  by  women  with  a  struggle.  Primitive  w  oman,  proud 
of  her  womanhood,  for  a  long  time  defended  her  nakedness  which  ancient 
art  has  always  represented.  And  in  the  actual  life  of  the  young  girl 
to-day  there  is  a  moment  when,  by  a  secret  atavism  she  feels  the  pride 
of  her  sex,  the  intuition  of  her  moral  superiority,  and  cannot  understand 
why  she  must  hide  its  cause.  At  this  moment,  wavering  between  the 
laws  of  Nature  and  social  conventions,  she  scarcely  knows  if  nakedness 
sliould  or  should  not  affright  her.  A  sort  of  confused  atavistic  memory 
recalls  to  her  a  period  before  clothing  was  known,  and  reveals  to  her  as 
a  paradisiacal  ideal  the  customs  of  that  human  epoch." 

In  support  of  this  view  the  authoress  proceeds  to  point  out  that 
the  decollete  constantly  reappears  in  feminine  clothing,  never  in  male: 
that   missionaries   experience   great   difficulty   in   persuading   women    (o 


^This  comparatively  evanescent  character  of  modesty  has  led  to  the 
argument  (Vcnturi,  "Degencrazioni  Psico-sessuali,"  i)p.  92-93)  tliat  mod- 
esty ipudore)  is  possessed  by  women  alone,  men  exhibiting,  instead,  a 
sense  of  decencv  which   remains  at  about  the  same  l(>vol   of  persistency 


throiigliont   life. 


THE    EVOLUTION    OF    MODESTY.  O 

cover  themselves;  that,  while  Avomen  accept  with  facility  an  examina- 
tion by  male  doctors,  men  cannot  force  themselves  to  accept  examination 
by  a  woman  doctor,  etc.  (These  and  similar  points  had  already  been 
independently  brought  forward  by  Sergi,  Archivio  di  Psichiatria,  vol. 
xiii,  1892.) 

It  cannot  be  said  that  Madame  Renooz's  arguments  will  all  bear 
examination,  but  the  point  of  view  which  she  expresses  is  one  which 
usually  fails  to  gain  recognition,  though  it  probably  contains  an  impor- 
tant element  of  truth.  At  the  same  time  it  only  reveals  one  thread  in 
the  tangled  skein  with  which  we  are  here  concerned.  The  mass  of  facts 
^\hich  meets  us  w'hen  we  turn  to  the  study  of  modesty  in  women  cannot 
be  dismissed  as  a  group  of  artificially-imposed  customs.  They  gain  rather 
than  lose  in  importance  if  we  have  to  realize  that  the  organic  sexual 
demands  of  women,  calling  for  coyness  in  courtship,  lead  to  the  tem- 
porary suppression  of  another  feminine  instinct  of  opposite,  though, 
doubtless  allied,  nature. 

The  significance  of  such  an  inquiry  becomes  greater  when 
we  reflect  that  to  the  reticences  of  sexual  modesty,  in  their  pro- 
gression, expansion,  and  complication,  we  largely  owe,  not  only 
the  refinement  and  development  of  the  sexual  emotions, — '^la 
pudeur/'  as  Guyau  remarked,  "a  civilise  V amour/' — hut  the 
subtle  and  pervading  part  which  the  sexual  instinct  has  played 
in  the  evolution  of  all  human  culture.^ 


'  "It  is  hard  to  find  all  the  causes  of  modesty  and  shame,"  remark 
Stanley  Hall  and  Allin,  "but  it  is  certain  that  very  much  of  what  is  best 
in  religion,  art,  and  life  owes  its  charm  to  the  progressively-widening 
irradiation  of  sexual  feeling.  Perhaps  the  reluctance  of  the  female  first 
long-circuited  tlie  exquisite  sensations  connected  with  sexual  organs  and 
acts  to  the  antics  of  animal  and  human  courtship,  while  restraint  had 
the  physiological  function  of  developing  the  colors,  plumes,  excessive 
activity,  and  exuberant  life  of  the  pairing  season.  To  keep  certain  parts 
of  the  body  covered  irradiated  the  sense  of  beauty  to  eyes,  hair,  face, 
com])]exion,  dross,  form.  etc..  while  many  savage  dances,  costumes,  and 
postures  are  irradiations  of  the  sexual  act.  Thus  reticence,  concealment, 
and  restraint  are  among  the  prime  conditions  of  religion  and  human 
culture."  (Stanley  Hall  and  Allin,  "The  Psychology  of  Tickling,"  Ameri- 
can Journal  of  Psychology,  p.  31,  1897.) 

Groos  attributes  the  deepening  of  the  conjugal  relation  among  birds 
to  the  circumstance  that  the  male  seeks  to  overcome  the  reticence  of  the 
female  by  the  display  of  his  charms  and  abilities.  "And  in  the  human 
world."  he  continues,  "it  is  the  same;  without  the  modest  reserve  of  the 
woman  that  must,  in  most  cases,  be  overcome  by  lovable  qualities,  the 
sexual  relationship  would  with  difficulty  find  a  singer  who  would  extol 
in  love  the  highest  movements  of  the  human  soul."  (Groos.  "Spiele  der 
Menschen,"   p.   341.) 


b  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

I  have  not,  however,  been  able  to  find  that  the  subject  of 
modesty  has  been  treated  in  an}'  comprehensive  way  by  psychol- 
ogists. Though  valuable  facts  and  suggestions  bearing  on  the 
sexual  emotions,  on  disgust,  the  origins  of  tattooing,  on  ornament 
and  clothing,  have  been  brought  forward  by  physiologists,  psy- 
chologists, and  ethnographists,  few  or  no  attempts  appear  to 
have  been  made  to  reach  a  general  synthetic  statement  of  these 
facts  and  suggestions.  It  is  true  that  a  great  many  unreliable, 
slight,  or  fragmentary  efforts  have  been  made  to  ascertain  the 
constitution  or  basis  of  this  emotion.  Many  psychologists,  in- 
cluding Sergi,  have  regarded  modesty  simply  as  the  result  of 
clothing.^  This  view  is  overturned  by  the  well-ascertained  fact 
that  many  races  which  go  absolutely  naked  possess  a  highly- 
developed  sense  of  modesty.  These  writers  have  not  realized 
that  physiological  modesty  is  earlier  in  appearance,  and  more 
fundamental,  than  anatomical  modesty.  A  partial  contribution 
to  the  analysis  of  modesty  has  been  made  by  Professor  James, 
who,  with  his  usual  insight  and  lucidity,  has  set  forth  certain  of 
its  characteristics,  especially  the  element  due  to  "the  application 
to  ourselves  of  judgments  primarily  passed  upon  our  mates." 
Westermarck,  again,  followed  by  Grosse,  has  very  ably  and  con- 
vincingly set  forth  certain  factors  in  the  origin  of  ornament  and 
clothing,  a  subject  which  many  writers  imagine  to  cover  the 
whole  field  of  modesty.  More  recently  Eibot,  in  his  work  on 
the  emotions,  lias  vaguely  outlined  most  of  tlie  factors  of  mod- 
esty, but  has  not  developed  a  coherent  view  of  their  origins  and 
relationships.  The  subject  is,  indeed,  complicated  by  the  difTi- 
culty  of  excluding  closely-allied  emotions — shame,  shyness,  bash- 
fulness,  timidity,  etc. — all  of  which,  indeed,  however  defined, 
adjoin  or  overlap  modesty.-  It  is  not,  however,  impossible  to 
isolate  tlie  main  bodv  of  the  emotion  of  modest v,  on  account  of 


'  More  rccontly.  liowovor.  Sorpfi  lias  oni])hasizod  tlio  foinciiU'iicc  of 
the  sexual  with  the  exeretinj?  eentres  as  Icadiiii;  io  a  fear  of  ('ausinjr  dis- 
gust, "Dolore  e  IMaeere."   18!)4,  pp.  2(M)-212. 

-Timidity,  as  understood  by  Du<,^as  in  his  interestinf?  essay  on  that 
Ruhjcel.  is  prohahly  most  rcmoie.  Dr.  IT.  Campbell's  "morbid  shyness" 
(Hrilish  ^Tcdieal  .lournal,  S(>plember  2(1.  lS()(i).  is.  in  pari,  identical  with 
timidity,  in  ])art  with  modesty.  Tlio  matter  is  further  eonii)lieated  by 
the   faet   tliat    modestv   itself  has   in    Knfrli^^h    dike    virlue)    two   distinct 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MODESTY.  7 

its  special  connection,  on  the  whole,  with  the  consciousness  of 
sex.  I  here  attempt,  however  imperfectly,  to  sketch  out  a  fairly- 
complete  analysis  of  its  constitution  and  to  trace  its  development. 

In  entering  upon  this  investigation  a  few  facts  with  regard  to  the 
various  manifestations  of  modesty  may  be  helpful  to  us.  I  have  selected 
these  from  scattered  original  sources,  and  have  sought  to  bring  out 
the  variety  and  complexity  of  the  problems  with  which  we  are  here 
concerned. 

The  New  Georgians  of  the  Solomon  Islands,  so  low  a  race  that 
they  are  ignorant  both  of  pottery  and  weaving  and  wear  only  a  loin 
cloth,  "have  the  same  ideas  of  what  is  decent  with  regard  to  certain 
acts  and  exposures  that  we  ourselves  have";  so  that  it  is  difficult  to 
observe  whether  they  practice  circumcision.  (Somerville,  Journal  of  the 
Anthropological  Institute,  p.  394,  1897.) 

The  semi-nude  natives  of  the  island  of  Nias  in  the  Indian  Ocean 
are  "modest  by  nature,"  paying  no  attention  to  their  own  nudity  or 
that  of  others,  and  much  scandalized  by  any  attempt  to  go  beyond  the 
limits  ordained  by  custom.  When  they  pass  near  places  where  women 
are  bathing  they  raise  their  voices  in  order  to  warn  them  of  their 
presence,  and  even  although  any  bold  youth  addressed  the  women,  and 
the  latter  replied,  no  attempt  would  be  made  to  approach  them;  any 
such  attempt  would  be  severely  punished  by  the  head  man  of  the 
village.     (Modigliani,  "Un  Viaggio  a  Nias,"  p.  460.) 

Man  says  that  the  Andamanese  in  modesty  and  self-respect  com- 
pare favorably  with  many  classes  among  civilized  peoples.  "Women 
are  so  modest  that  they  will  not  renew  their  leaf-aprons  in  the  presence 
of  one  another,  but  retire  to  a  secluded  spot  for  this  purpose:  even 
when  parting  with  one  of  their  &ocZ  appendages  [tails  of  leaves  suspended 
from  back  of  girdle]  to  a  female  friend  the  delicacy  they  manifest  for 
the  feelings  of  the  by-standers  in  their  mode  of  removing  it  amounts 
to  prudishness;  yet  they  wear  no  clothing  in  the  ordinary  sense." 
{Journal  of  the  Anthropological  Institute,  pp.  94  and  331,  1883.) 

In  Australia  "the  feeling  of  decency  is  decidedly  less  prevalent 
among  males  than  females";  the  clothed  females  retire  out  of  sight  to 
bathe,      (Curr,  "Australian  Race,") 

"Except  for  waist-bands,  forehead-bands,  necklets,  and  armlets,  and 


meanings.  In  its  original  form  it  has  no  special  connection  with  sex  or 
women,  but  may  rather  be  considered  as  a  masculine  virtue.  Cicero 
regards  "modestia"  as  the  equivalent  of  the  Greek  \u}(pp5vv7] .  This  is 
the  "modesty"  which  Mary  Wollstonecraft  eulogized  in  the  last  century, 
the  outcome  of  knowledge  and  reflection,  "soberness  of  mind,"  "the  (grace- 
ful calm  virtue  of  maturity."  In  French  it  is  possible  to  avoid  the  con- 
fusion, and  modestie  is  entirely  distinct  from  pudeur.  It  is.  of  course, 
mainly  with  pudeur  that  I  am  here  concerned. 


8  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

a  conventional  pubic  tassel,  shell,  or,  in  the  case  of  the  \vomen,  a  small 
apron,  the  Central  Australian  native  is  naked.  The  pubic  tassel  is  a 
diminutive  structure  about  the  size  of  a  five-shilling  piece  made  of  a  few 
short  strands  of  fur-strings  flattened  out  into  a  fan-shape  and  attached 
to  the  pubic  hair.  As  the  string,  especially  at  corrobboree  times,  is 
covered  with  white  kaolin  or  gj^psum,  it  serves  as  a  decoration  rather 
than  a  covering.  Among  the  Arunta  and  Luritcha  the  women  usually 
wear  nothing,  but  further  north  a  small  apron  is  made  and  worn." 
(Baldwin  Spencer  and  Gillen,  "Native  Tribes  of  Central  Australia,"  p. 
572.) 

Of  the  Central  Australians  Stirling  says:  "Xo  sense  of  shame  of 
exposure  was  exhibited  by  the  men  on  removal  of  the  diminutive  articles 
worn  as  conventional  coverings;  they  were  taken  off  coram  popiilo, 
and  bartered  without  hesitation.  On  the  other  hand,  some  little  per- 
suasion was  necessary  to  allow  inspection  of  the  effect  of  [urethral] 
sub-incision,  assent  being  given  only  after  dismissal  to  a  distance  of 
the  women  and  young  children.  As  to  the  women,  it  was  nearly  always 
observed  that  when  in  camp  without  clotliing  they,  especially  the 
younger  ones,  exhibited  by  their  attitude  a  keen  sense  of  modesty,  if, 
indeed,  a  consciousness  of  their  nakedness  can  be  thus  considered. 
When  we  desired  to  take  a  photograph  of  a  group  of  young  women, 
they  were  very  coy  at  the  proposal  to  remove  their  scanty  garments, 
and  retired  behind  a  Mall  to  do  so;  but  once  in  a  state  of  nudity  they 
made  no  objection  to  exposure  to  the  camera."  ("Report  of  the  Horn 
Scientific  Expedition,"  189G,  vol.  iv,  p.  37.) 

In  Northern-Queensland  "phallocrypts,"'  or  "penis-concealers,"  only 
used  by  the  males  at  corrobborees  and  otlicr  public  rejoicings,  are  either 
formed  of  pearl-shell  or  opossum-string.  The  Iwnm-pa-ra ,  or  opossum- 
string  form  of  phallocrypt,  forms  a  kind  of  tassel,  and  is  colored  red; 
it  is  hung  from  the  waist-belt  in  the  middle  line.  In  both  sexes  the 
privates  are  only  covered  on  special  public  occasions  or  when  in  close 
proximity  to  white  settlements.  (Walter  Roth,  "Ethnological  Studies 
among  the  Northwest-Central-Queensland  Aborigines,"  1897,  pp.  114- 
115.) 

Among  the  western  tribes  of  Torres  Straits,  Haddon  remarks,  the 
men  are  naked,  the  women  wear  a  tuft  of  grass  or  split  pandanus-leaves 
in  front,  and  passed  between  the  thighs  to  be  fastened  to  another  piece 
bcliind,  and  sometimes,  especially  for  dancing,  a  short  petticoat  of  shrod 
pandanus-leaves  over  this.  (Joiirnnl  of  the  Anthropological  Institute, 
pp.  3G8,  431,  1890.) 

The  Papuans  of  King  Wilhelm's  Land  must  not  be  seen  during 
coitus;  anyone  so  seen  is  regarded  as  imbecile  or  mad,  a  special  word 
being  used  for  this  madness.  (Schellong.  Zeitachrift  fiir  Ethnologie, 
H.  1.  p.  18.  1889.) 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MODESTY.  V 

In  the  New  Hebrides  "the  closest  secrecy  is  adopted  with  regard 
to  the  penis,  not  at  all  from  a  sense  of  decency,  but  to  avoid  Narak, 
the  sifjJit  even  of  tliat  of  another  man  being  considered  most  dangerous. 
The  natives  of  this  savage  island,  accordingly,  wrap  the  penis  around 
with  many  yards  of  calico,  and  other  like  materials,  winding  and  fold- 
ing them  until  a  preposterous  bundle  18  inches  or  2  feet  long  and  2 
inches  or  more  in  diameter  is  formed,  which  is  then  supported  upward 
by  means  of  a  belt,  in  the  extremity  decorated  with  flowering  grasses, 
etc.  The  testicles  are  left  naked."  There  is  no  other  body  covering. 
(Somerville,  Journal  of  the  Anthropological  Institute,  p.  368,  1894.) 

In  the  Pelew  Islands,  says  Kubary,  as  quoted  by  Bastian,  it  is  said 
that  when  the  God  Irakaderugel  and  his  Avife  were  creating  man  and 
woman  (he  forming  man  and  she  forming  woman),  and  were  at  work  on 
the  sexual  organs,  the  god  wished  to  see  his  consort's  handiwork.  She, 
however,  was  cross,  and  persisted  in  concealing  what  she  had  made.  Ever 
since  then  women  wear  an  apron  of  pandanus-leaves  and  men  go  naked. 
(A.  Bastian,  "Inselgruppen  in  Oceanien,"  p.  112.) 

The  Maoris,  whose  cold  climate  encouraged  them  to  clothe  abun- 
dantly, saw  nothing  to  be  condemned  when  the  girls  in  public  removed 
their  garments  in  order  to  swim.  The  men  always  stripped  naked  for 
work  or  for  fighting.     (A.  Sutherland,  "Moral  Instinct,"  vol.  i,  p.  206.) 

In  Rotuma,  in  Polynesia,  where  the  women  enjoy  much  freedom, 
but  where,  at  all  events  in  old  days,  married  people  were,  as  a  rule, 
faithful  to  each  other,  "the  language  is  not  chaste  according  to  our  ideas, 
and  there  is  a  great  deal  of  freedom  in  speaking  of  immoral  vices.  In 
this  connection  a  man  and  his  wife  will  speak  freely  to  one  another 
before  their  friends,  and  perhaps  indulge  in  a  little  chaff.  I  am  in- 
formed, though,  by  European  traders  well  conversant  with  the  language, 
that  there  are  grades  of  language,  and  that  certain  coarse  phrases  ^vould 
never  be  used  to  any  decent  woman;  so  that  probably,  in  their  way, 
they  have  much  modesty,  only  we  cannot  appreciate  it."  (J.  Stanley 
Gardiner,  "The  Natives  of  Rotuma,"  Jonrnal  of  the  Anthropological 
Institute,  May,  1898,  p.  481.) 

In  Queensland,  also.  Roth  remarks  {op.  cit.,  p.  184),  there  is  both 
a  decent  and  an  indecent  vocabulary:  while  one  word  for  vulva  can  be 
used  in  the  best  aboriginal  society,  another,  meaning  the  same  part,  is 
considered  most  ofTensive. 

The  men  of  Rotuma,  says  the  same  writer,  are  very  clean,  the 
women  also,  bathing  twice  a  day  in  the  sea;  but  "bathing  in  public 
without  the  Imkiilnga,  or  sulu  [loin-cloth,  which  is  the  ordinary  dress], 
around  the  waist  is  absolutely  unheard  of,  and  would  be  much  looked 
down  upon."     [Journal  of  the  Anthropological  Institute,  p.  410,  1898.) 

At  Tahiti,  which  was  one  of  the  chief  centres  of  Polynesian  culture, 
nakedness  was  almost  a  religious  cult.     There  was  a  nude  funeral  dance 


10  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

and  a  nude  w  eddinfr-dance.  On  the  wedding-dav.  also,  the  marriage  was 
consummated  in  the  presence  of  the  public.  (Tautain,  "'Ethnographie 
des  lies  Marquises.'"  UAnthrofjologie.  p.  546,  1S96.) 

In  ancient  Samoa  tlie  onlv  necessarv  grarment  for  either  man  or 
woman  was  an  apron  of  leaves,  but  they  possessed  so  ''delicate  a  sense 
of  propriety"  that  even  "while  bathing  they  have  a  girdle  of  leaves  or 
some  other  covering  around  the  waist."'  (Turner,  *'Sanloa  a  Hundred 
Years  Ago,"'  p.   121.) 

After  babyhood  the  Indians  of  Guiana  are  never  seen  naked.  When 
thev  change  their  single  garment  thev  retire.  Ihe  women  wear  a  little 
apron,  now  generally  made  of  European  beads,  but  the  Warraus  still 
make  it  of  the  inner  bark  of  a  tree,  and  some  of  seeds.  (Everard 
im  Thurn,  "Among  the  Indians  of  Guiana."  1883.) 

The  Indians  of  Central  Brazil  have  no  "private  parts."  In  men  the 
little  girdle,  or  string,  surrounding  the  lower  part  of  the  abdomen,  hides 
nothing:  it  is  worn  after  puberty,  the  penis  being  often  raised  and 
placed  beneath  it  to  lengthen  the  prepuce.  The  women  also  use  a  little 
strip  of  bast  that  goes  down  the  groin  and  passes  between  the  thighs. 
Among  some  tribes  (Karibs.  Tupis.  Xu-Arwaks)  a  little,  triangular, 
coquettishly-made  piece  of  bark-bast  comes  just  below  the  mons  veneris; 
it  is  only  a  few  centimetres  in  width,  and  is  called  the  fihtri.  In  both 
seres  cofwralmnit  of  ihe  se.runl  mucous  inemhraue  is  attained.  These 
articles  cannot  be  called  clothing.  "The  red  thread  of  the  Trumai.  the 
elegant  uJui'i,  and  the  variegated  flag  of  the  Bororo  attract  attention, 
like  ornaments,  instead  of  drawing  attention  away."  Von  den  Steinen 
thinks  this  proceeding  a  necessary  protection  against  the  attacks  of 
insects,  which  are  often  serious  in  Brazil.  He  does  think,  however,  that 
there  is  more  than  this,  and  tliat  the  people  are  ashamed  to  show  the 
glans  penis.  (Karl  von  den  Steinen,  "I'nter  den  Xaturvolkern  Zentral- 
Brasiliens,"  Berlin,  1894.  pp.  190  et  scq.) 

Other  travelers  mention  that  on  the  Amazon  among  some  tribes 
the  women  are  clothed  and  the  men  naked;  among  others  the  women 
naked  and  the  men  clothed.  Thus,  among  the  Guaycurus  the  men  are 
quite  naked,  Avhile  the  women  wear  a  short  petticoat:  among  the 
Uaupj'is  the  men  wear  a  loin-cloth,  while  the  women  are  quite  naked. 

"The  feeling  of  modesty  is  very  developed  among  the  Fuegians,  who 
are  accustomed  to  live  naked.  They  manifest  it  in  their  bearing  and  in 
the  ease  with  which  they  show  themselves  in  a  state  of  nudity,  com- 
pared with  the  awkwardness,  blushing,  and  shame  which  both  men  and 
women  exhibit  if  one  gazes  at  certain  parts  of  their  bodies.  Among  them- 
selves this  is  never  done  even  between  husband  and  wife.  There  is  no 
Fuegian  word  for  modesty,  perhaps  liecause  the  feeling  is  universal 
among  them."  The  women  wear  a  minute  triangular  garment  of  skin 
suspended  between  the  thighs  and   never  removed,  being  merely   raised 


THE  EVOLUTIOX  OF  MODESTY,  11 

during  coiijufral  relations.  (Hyades  and  Deniker,  "Mission  Scientifique 
on  Cap  Horn,"  vol.  vii,  pp.  23!)  and  347.) 

Among  the  Crow  Indians  of  Montana,  writes  Dr.  Holder,  wlio  has 
lived  with  them  for  several  years,  "a  sense  of  modesty  forbids  the 
attendance  upon  the  female  in  labor  of  any  male,  white  man  or  Indian, 
physician  or  layman.  This  antipathy  to  receiving  assistance  at  the 
hands  of  the  physician  is  overcome  as  the  tribes  progress  toward  civiliza- 
tion, and  it  is  especially  noticeable  that  lialf-breeds  almost  constantly 
seek  the  physician's  aid."  Dr.  Holder  mentions  the  case  of  a  young 
woman  who,  although  brought  near  the  verge  of  death  in  a  very  difficult 
first  confinement,  repeatedly  refused  to  allow  him  to  examine  her;  at 
last  she  consented;  "her  modest  preparation  was  to  take  bits  of  quilt 
and  cover  thighs  and  lips  of  vulva,  leaving  only  the  aperture  ex- 
posed. .  .  .  Their  modesty  would  not  be  so  striking  were  it  not 
that,  almost  to  a  Moman,  the  females  of  this  tribe  are  prostitutes,  and 
for  a  consideration  will  admit  the  connection  of  any  man."  (A.  B. 
Holder.  American  Journal  of  Ohstetrics,  vol.  xxv,  No.  6,  1892.) 

"In  every  North  American  tribe,  from  the  most  northern  to  the 
most  southern,  the  skirt  of  the  woman  is  longer  than  that  of  the  men.  In 
Esquimau  land  the  parka  of  deerskin  and  sealskin  reaches  to  the  knees. 
Throughout  Central  North  America  the  buckskin  dress  of  the  women 
reached  quite  to  the  ankles.  The  West-Coast  women,  from  Oregon  to 
the  Gulf  of  California,  More  a  petticoat  of  shredded  bark,  of  plaited 
grass,  or  of  strings,  upon  which  were  strung  hundreds  of  seeds.  Even 
in  the  most  tropical  areas  the  rule  was  universal,  as  anyone  can  see  from 
the  codices  or  in  pictures  of  the  natives."  (Otis  T.  Mason,  "Woman's 
Share  in  Primitive  Culture."  p.  237.) 

Describing  the  loin-cloth  worn  by  Nicobarese  men,  Man  says: 
"From  the  clumsy  mode  in  which  this  garment  is  worn  by  the  Shorn 
Pen — necessitating  frequent  readjustment  of  the  folds — one  is  led  to  infer 
that  its  use  is  not  de  rigneiir,  but  reserved  for  special  occasions,  as  when 
receiving  or  visiting  strangers."  (E.  H.  Man,  Journal  of  the  Aniliropo- 
loiiical  Institute,  p.  442,  1886.) 

Of  the  Garo  women  of  Bengal  Dalton  says:  "Their  sole  garment 
is  a  piece  of  cloth  less  than  a  foot  in  width  that  just  meets  around 
the  loins,  and  in  order  that  it  mav  not  restrain  the  limbs  it  is  onlv 
fastened  where  it  meets  under  the  hip  at  the  upper  corners.  The  girls 
are  thus  greatly  restricted  in  the  positions  they  may  modestly  assume, 
but  decorum  is,  in  their  opinion,  sufficiently  preserved  if  they  only  keep 
their  legs  well  together  when  they  sit  or  kneel."  (E.  T.  Dalton,  "Eth- 
nology- of  Bengal,"  1872,  p.  66.) 

Of  the  Naga  women  of  Assam  it  is  said:  "Of  clothing  there  was 
not  much  to  see;  but  in  spite  of  this  I  doubt  whether  we  could  excel 
them  in  true  decency  and  modestv.     Ibn  ]Muhammed  Wali  had  already 


12  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

remarked  in  his  history  of  the  conquest  of  Assam  ^  1662-63),  that  the 
Xaga  women  only  cover  their  breasts.  They  declare  that  it  is  absurd 
to  cover  tliose  parts  of  the  body  which  everyone  has  been  able  to  see 
from  their  births,  but  that  it  is  different  with  the  breasts,  which  ap- 
peared later,  and  are,  therefore,  to  be  covered.  Dalton  (Journal  of  the 
Asiatic  Society,  Bengal,  41.  1.  84)  adds  that  in  the  presence  of  strangers 
Xaga  women  simply  cross  their  arms  over  their  breasts,  without  caring 
much  what  other  charms  thev  mav  reveal  to  the  observer.  As  regards 
some  clans  of  the  naked  Xagas.  to  whom  the  Banpara  belong,  this  may 
still  hold  good."  (K.  Klemra,  "Peal's  Ausflug  nach  Banpara,"  Zeitschrift 
fiir  Ethni,}(,<]ie,  H.  5,  p.  334,  1898.) 

Mrs.  French-Sheldon  remarks  that  the  Masai  and  otlier  East 
African  tribes,  with  regard  to  menstruation,  "observe  the  greatest  deli- 
cacy, and  are  more  than  modest."  [Journal  of  the  Anthropological 
Institute,  p.  383,   1894.) 

At  the  same  time  the  Masai,  among  "whom  the  penis  is  of  enormous 
size,  consider  it  disreputable  to  conceal  that  member,  and  in  the  highest 
degree  reputable  to  display  it.  even  ostentatiously.  (Sir  H.  H.  Johnston, 
"Kilima-njaro  Expedition,"  p.  413.) 

Among  the  African  Dinka,  who  are  scrupulously  clean  and  delicate 
(smearing  themselves  with  burnt  cows'  dung,  and  washing  themselves 
daily  with  cows'  urine),  and  are  exquisite  cooks,  reaching  in  many 
respects  a  liigher  stage  of  civilization,  in  Scliweinfurth's  opinion,  than  is 
elsewhere  attained  in  Africa,  only  the  women  wear  aprons.  The  neigh- 
boring tribes  of  the  red  soil — Bongo.  Mittoo.  Xiam-Xiam,  etc. — are  called 
"women"  by  the  Dinka.  because  among  these  tribes  the  men  wear  an 
apron,  while  the  women  obstinately  refuse  to  Avear  any  clothes  whatso- 
ever of  skin  or  stuff,  going  into  the  woods  every  day.  however,  to  get 
a  supple  bough  for  a  girdle,  with,  perhaps,  a  bundle  of  fine  grass. 
(Schweinfurth,  "Heart  of  Africa."  vol.  i.  pp.   152,  etc.) 

Lombroso  and  Carrara,  examining  some  Dinka  negroes  brought 
from  the  White  Xile.  remark :  "As  to  their  psychology,  what  struck  us 
first  of  all  was  the  exaggeration  of  their  modesty;  not  in  a  single  case 
would  the  men  allow  us  to  examine  their  genital  organs  or  the  women 
their  breasts;  we  examined  the  tattoo-marks  on  the  chest  of  one  of 
the  women,  and  she  remained  sad  and  irritable  for  two  days  afterward." 
They  add  that  in  sexual  and  all  other  respect-;  these  people  are  highly 
moral.  (Lombroso  and  Carrara.  Archirio  di  I'sichiatria,  vol.  xvii,  fasc.  4, 
1800.) 

"The  negro  is  very  rarely  knowingly  indecent  or  addicted  to 
lubricity,"  says  Sir  H.  H.  Johnston.  "In  this  land  of  nudity,  which  I 
have  known  for  seven  years.  I  do  not  remember  once  having  seen  an 
indecent  gesture  on  the  part  of  either  man  or  woman,  and  only  very 
rarely  (and  that  not  among  unspoiled  savages)   in  the  (■i\<o  of  that  most 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MODESTY.  13 

shameless  member  of  the  community — the  little  boy."  He  adds  that  the 
native  dances  are  only  an  apparent  exception,  being  serious  in  character, 
though  indecent  to  our  eyes,  almost  constituting  a  religious  ceremony. 
The  only  really  indecent  dance  indigenous  to  Central  Africa  "is  one 
wliich  originally  represented  the  act  of  coition,  but  it  is  so  altered  to  a 
stereotyped  formula  that  its  exact  purport  is  not  obvious  until  explained 
somewhat  shyly  by  the  natives.  ...  It  may  safely  be  asserted  that 
the  negro  race  in  Central  Africa  is  much  more  truly  modest,  is  much 
more  free  from  real  vice,  than  are  most  European  nations.  Neither  boys 
nor  girls  wear  clothing  (unless  they  are  the  children  of  chiefs)  until 
nearing  the  age  of  puberty.  Among  the  Wankonda,  practically  no  cover- 
ing is  worn  by  the  men  except  a  ring  of  brass  wire  around  the  stomach. 
The  Wankonda  women  are  likewise  almost  entirely  naked,  but  generally 
cover  the  pudenda  with  a  tiny  bead-work  apron,  often  a  piece  of  very 
beautiful  workmanship,  and  exactly  resembling  the  same  article  worn 
by  Kaffir  women.  A  like  degree  of  nudity  prevails  among  many  of  the 
Awemba,  among  the  A-lungu,  the  Batumbuka,  and  the  Angoni.  Most 
of  the  Angoni  men,  however,  adopt  the  Zulu  fashion  of  covering  the 
glans  penis  with  a  small  wooden  case  or  the  outer  shell  of  a  fruit.  The 
Wa-Yao  have  a  stronsr  sense  of  decencv  in  matters  of  this  kind,  which 
is  the  more  curious  since  they  are  more  given  to  obscenity  in  their  rites, 
ceremonies,  and  dances  than  any  other  tribe.  Not  only  is  it  extremely 
rare  to  see  any  Yao  uncovered,  but  both  men  and  women  have  the 
strongest  dislike  to  exposing  their  persons  even  to  the  inspection  of  a 
doctor.  The  Atonga  and  many  of  the  A-nyanga  p£ople,  and  all  the  tribes 
west  of  Nyassa  (with  the  exception  possibly  of  the  A-lunda)  have  not 
the  Yao  regard  for  decency,  and,  although  they  can  seldom  or  ever  be 
accused  of  a  deliberate  intention  to  expose  themselves,  the  men  are 
relatively  indifferent  as  to  whether  their  nakedness  is  or  is  not  con- 
cealed, though  the  women  are  modest  and  careful  in  this  respect." 
(H.  H.  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,"   1897,  pp.  408-419.) 

In  Azimba  Land,  Central  Africa,  H.  Craw^ford  Angus,  who  has 
spent  many  years  in  this  part  of  Africa,  writes:  "It  has  been  my  ex- 
perience that  the  more  naked  the  people  and  the  more  to  us  obscene 
and  shameless  their  manners  and  customs,  the  more  moral  and  strict 
they  are  in  the  matter  of  sexual  intercourse."  He  proceeds  to  give  a 
description  of  the  clicnsamicali,  or  initiation  ceremony  of  girls  at 
puberty,  a  season  of  rejoicing  when  the  girl  is  initiated  into  all  the 
secrets  of  marriage,  amid  songs  and  dances  referring  to  the  act  of 
coition.  "The  whole  matter  is  looked  upon  as  a  matter  of  course,  and 
not  as  a  thing  to  be  ashamed  of  or  to  hide,  and,  being  thus  openly 
treated  of  and  no  secrecy  made  about  it,  you  find  in  this  tribe  that  the 
Momen  are  very  virtuous.  They  know  from  the  first  all  that  is  to  be 
known,  and  cannot  see  any  reason  for  secrecy  concerning  natural  laws 


14  rSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

or  the  powers  and  senses  that  liave  been  given  them  from  birth." 
(Zeitschrift  fiir  Ethnologic,  H.  0,  p.  479,  1898.) 

"The  Momen  at  Upoto  wear  no  clothes  whatever,  and  came  up 
to  us  in  the  most  unreserved  manner.  An  interesting  gradation  in 
the  arrangement  of  the  female  costume  has  been  observed  by  us:  as 
we  ascended  the  Congo,  the  higher  up  the  river  we  found  ourselves,  the 
higher  the  dress  reached,  till  it  has  now ,  at  last,  culminated  in  absolute 
nudity."  (T.  H.  Parke,  "My  Personal  Experiences  in  Equatorial  Africa," 
1891,  p.  61.) 

"There  exists  throughout  the  Congo  population  a  marked  appre- 
ciation of  the  sentiment  of  decency  and  shame  as  applied  to  private 
actions,"  says  Mr.  Herbert  Ward.  In  explanation  of  the  nudity  of  the 
women  at  Upoto,  a  chief  remarked  to  Ward  that  "concealment  is  food 
for  the  inquisitive."  {Journal  of  the  Anthropological  Institute,  p.  293, 
1895.) 

In  the  Gold  Coast  and  surrounding  countries  complete  nudity  is 
extremely  rare  except  -when  circumstances  make  it  desirable;  on  occa- 
sion clothing  is  abandoned  ^\  ith  unc-oncern.  "I  have  on  several  occa- 
sions," says  Dr.  Freeman,  "seen  women  at  Accra  walk  from  the  beach, 
where  they  have  been  bathing,  across  the  road  to  their  houses,  where 
they  would  proceed  to  dry  themselves,  and  resume  their  garments;  and 
women  may  not  infrequently  be  seen  bathing  in  pools  by  the  way-side, 
conversing  quite  unconstrainedly  with  tlieir  male  acquaintances  who 
are  seated  on  the  bank.  The  mere  unclothed  body  conveys  to  their 
minds  no  idea  of  indecency.  Immodesty  and  indelicacy  of  manner  are 
practically  unknown."  He  adds  tiiat  the  excessive  zeal  of  missionaries 
in  urging  their  converts  to  adopt  European  dress — wliich  they  are  only 
too  ready  to  do — is  much  to  be  regretted,  since  the  close-fitting  thin 
garments  are  really  less  modest  than  the  loose  clothes  they  replace, 
besides  being  much  less  cleanly.  (R.  A.  Freeman,  "Travels  and  Life  in 
Ashanti   and   Jaman,"    1898,   p.   379.) 

At  Loango,  says  Pechuol-Loesche,  "the  well-bred  nogress  likes  to 
cover  her  bosom,  and  is  sensitive  to  critical  male  eyes;  if  she  meets  a 
European  wlieii  without  hor  overgarment,  she  instinctively,  though  not 
without  coquetry,  takes  the  attitude  of  the  Medicean  Venus."  Men 
and  women  bathe  separately,  and  hide  tliemsclves  from  each  other  when 
naked.  Tlie  women  also  exhibit  shame  wlicn  discovered  sui-kling  their 
babies.     (Zeitschrift  fiir  Ethnologic,  pp.  27-31.  1878.) 

In  Algeria, — in  Ihe  jirox  iiiccs  of  C'oiislaiilinc.  in  Biskra,  oven  Aures, 
— "among  the  women  especially,  not  one  is  restrained  by  any  modesty 
in  unfastening  her  girdle  to  any  corner"  (when  a  search  was  being 
made  for  tattoo-marks  on  the  lower  extremities).  "Tn  s])ite  of  the 
great  licentiousness  of  the  manners,"  the  same  writer  continues,  "the 
Arab  and  the  Kabyle  possess  great  personal  modesty,  and  witli  didiculty 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MODESTY.  15 

are  persuaded  to  exhibit  the  body  nude;  is  it  the  result  of  real  modesty 
or  of  their  inveterate  habits  of  active  pederasty?  Whatever  the  cause, 
they  always  hide  the  sexual  organs  with  their  hands  or  their  handker- 
chiefs, and  are  disagreeably  affected  even  by  the  slightest  touch  of  the 
doctor."     (Batut,  Archives  d'Anthropologie  Griminelle,  January  15,  1893.) 

"Moslem  modesty,"  remarks  Wellhausen,  "was  carried  to  great 
lengths,  insufficient  clothing  being  forbidden.  It  was  marked  even 
among  the  heathen  Arabs,  as  among  Semites  and  old  civilizations  gener- 
ally; we  must  not  be  deceived  by  the  occasional  examples  of  immodesty 
in  individual  cases.  The  Sunna  prescribes  that  a  man  shall  not  un- 
cover himself  even  to  himself,  and  shall  not  wash  naked — from  fear 
of  God  and  of  spirits;  Job  did  so,  and  atoned  for  it  heavily.  When 
in  Arab  antiquity  grown-up  persons  showed  themselves  naked,  it  was 
only  under  extraordinary  circumstances,  and  to  attain  unusual  ends. 
.  .  .  Women  when  mourning  uncovered  not  only  the  face  and  bosom, 
but  also  tore  all  their  garments.  The  messenger  who  brought  bad 
news  tore  his  garments.  A  mother  desiring  to  bring  pressure  to  bear 
on  her  son  took  off  her  clothes.  A  man  to  whom  vengeance  is  forbidden 
showed  his  despair  and  disapproval  by  uncovering  his  posterior  and 
strewing  earth  on  his  head,  or  by  raising  his  garment  behind  and  cover- 
ing his  head  with  it.  This  was  done  also  in  fulfilling  natural  necessi- 
ties." (Wellhausen,  "Reste  Arabischen  Heidentums,"  1897,  pp.  173, 
195-96.) 

Mantegazza  mentions  that  a  Lapland  woman  refused  even  for  the 
sum  of  150  francs  to  allow  him  to  photograph  her  naked,  though  the 
men  placed  themseh^es  before  the  camera  in.  the  costume  of  Adam  for 
a  much  smaller  sum.  In  the  same  book  Mantegazza  remarks  that  in 
the  last  century  travelers  found  it  extremely  difficult  to  persuade 
Samoyed  women  to  show  themselves  naked.  Among  the  same  people, 
he  says,  the  newly-married  wife  must  conceal  her  face  from  her  husband 
for  two  months  after  marriage,  and  only  then  yield  to  his  embraces. 
(Mantegazza,  "La  Donna,"  cap.  iv.) 

"The  beauty  of  a  Chinese  woman,"  says  Dr.  Matignon,  "resides 
largely  in  her  foot.  *A  foot  which  is  not  deformed  is  a  dishonor,'  says 
a  poet.  For  the  husband  the  foot  is  more  interesting  than  the  face. 
Only  the  husband  may  see  his  wife's  foot  naked.  A  Chinese  woman  is 
as  reticent  in  showing  her  feet  to  a  man  as  a  European  w^oman  her 
breasts.  I  have  often  had  to  treat  Chinese  w'omen  with  ridiculously 
small  feet  for  wounds  and  excoriations,  the  result  of  tight  bandaging. 
They  exhibited  the  prudishness  of  school-girls,  blushed,  turned  their 
backs  to  unfasten  the  bandages,  and  then  concealed  the  foot  in  a  cloth, 
leaving  only  the  affected  part  uncovered.  Modesty  is  a  question  of 
convention;  Chinese  have  it  for  their  feet."  (J.  Matignon,  "A  propos 
d'un  Pied  de  Chinoise,"  Archives  d'Anthropologie  Criminelle,  p.  445, 
1898.) 


16  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   SEX. 

It  must  be  added  that  Chinese  Avomen  are  said  to  be  extremely 
reticent  in  showing  any  part  of  the  body;  but  there  is  no  doubt  that 
the  chief  focus  of  modesty  is  in  their  feet.  It  is  only  with  great  diffi- 
culty, I  am  informed,  that  they  can  be  persuaded  to  show  their  feet 
even  to  persons  of  their  own  sex,  and  in  their  pictures  of  naked  women, 
regarded  as  most  indecent,  the  feet  are  still  surrounded  bv  a  little  silk 
frill. 

"In  Japan  (Captain tells  me)  the  bathing-place  of  the  women 

was  perfectly  open  (the  shampooing,  indeed,  was  done  by  a  man),  and 
Englislimen  were  offered  no  obstacle  nor  excited  the  least  repugnance; 
indeed,  girls  after  their  bath  would  freely  pass,  sometimes  as  if  holding 
out  their  hair  for  innocent  admiration,  and  this  continued  until  country- 
men of  ours  by  vile  laughter  and  jests  made  them  guard  themselves 
from  insult  by  secrecy.  So  corruption  spreads  and  heathenism  is  blacker 
by  our  contact."     (Private  communication.) 

"Speaking  once  with  a  Japanese  gentleman,  I  observed  that  we 
considered  it  an  act  of  indecency  for  men  and  women  to  wash  together. 
He  shrugged  his  shoulders  as  he  answered:  'But  these  Westerns  have 
such  prurient  minds!'"     (Mitford,  "Tales  of  Old  Japan,"  1871.) 

Dr.  Carl  Davidsohn,  who  remarks  that  he  had  ample  opportunity 
of  noting  the  great  beauty  of  the  Japanese  women  in  national  dances, 
performed  naked,  points  out  that  the  Japanese  have  no  esthetic  sense 
for  the  nude.  "This  was  shown  at  the  Jubilee  Exhibition  at  Kyoto. 
Here,  among  many  rooms  full  of  art  objects,  one  was  devoted  to  oil 
pictures  in  the  European  manner.  Among  these  only  one  represented  a 
nude  figure,  a  Psyche,  or  Truth.  It  was  the  first  time  such  a  picture 
had  been  seen.  Men  and  women  crowded  around  it.  After  they  had 
gazed  at  it  for  a  time  most  began  to  giggle  and  laugh ;  some  by  their 
air  and  gestures  clearly  showed  their  disgust;  all  found  tliat  it  was 
not  esthetic  to  paint  a  naked  woman,  though  in  Nature  nakedness  was 
in  no  way  oflfensive  to  them.  In  the  middle  of  the  same  city,  at  a 
fountain  reputed  to  possess  special  virtues,  men  and  women  will  stand 
together  naked  to  let  the  water  run  over  them."  (Carl  Davidsohn,  "Das 
Nackte  bei  den  Japanern,"  Glnhus,  No.  10,  1890.) 

"Among  the  Lj'dians,  and,  indeed,  among  the  barbarians  generally, 
it  is  considered  a  deep  disgrace,  even  for  a  man,  to  be  seen  naked." 
(Herodotus,  Book  I,  Chapter  X.) 

"The  simple  dress  which  is  now  common  was  first  worn  in  Sparta, 
and  tliere,  more  than  anywhere  else,  tlie  life  of  the  rich  was  assimilated 
to  that  of  the  people.  The  Laceda'monians,  too,  were  the  first  who,  in 
their  athletic  exercises,  stripped  naked  and  rubbed  themselves  over  with 
oil.  This  was  not  the  ancient  custom;  athletes  formerly,  even  when 
they  were  contending  at  Olympia,  wore  girdles  about  their  loins,  a 
practice   which   lasted    until   quite   lately,   and   still   persists  among  bar- 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MODESTY.  17 

barians,  especially  those  of  Asia,  Avhere  the  combatants  at  boxing  and 
wrestling  matches  wear  girdles."  (Thueydides,  "History,"  IJook  I, 
Chapter  VI.) 

"The  notion  of  the  women  exercising  naked  in  the  schools  with 
the  men  ...  at  the  present  day  would  appear  truly  ridiculous. 
,  .  .  Not  long  since  it  was  thought  discreditable  and  ridiculous 
among  the  Greeks,  as  it  is  now  among  most  barbarous  nations,  for 
men  to  be  seen  naked.  And  when  the  Cretans  first,  and  after  them 
the  Lacedaemonians^,  began  the  practice  of  gymnastic  exercises,  the  wits 
of  the  time  had  it  in  their  power  to  make  sport  of  those  novelties. 
.  .  .  As  for  the  man  who  laughs  at  the  idea  of  undressed  women 
going  through  gymnastic  exercises,  as  a  means  of  revealing  what  is 
most  perfect,  his  ridicule  is  but  'unripe  fruit  plucked  from  the  tree  of 
wisdom.'"     (Plato,  "Republic,"  Book  V.) 

According  to  Plutarch,  however,  among  the  Spartans,  at  all  events, 
nakedness  in  women  was  not  ridiculous,  since  the  institutes  of  Lycurgus 
ordained  that  at  solemn  feasts  and  sacrifices  the  young  women  should 
dance  naked  and  sing,  the  young  men  standing  around  in  a  circle  to 
see  and  hear  them.  Aristotle  says  that  in  his  time  Spartan  girls  only 
wore  a  very  slight  garment.  As  described  by  Pausanias,  and  as  shown 
by  a  statue  in  the  Vatican,  the  ordinary  tunic,  which  was  the  sole 
garment  worn  by  women  vrhen  running,  left  bare  the  right  shoulder 
and  breast,  and  only  reached  to  the  upper  third  of  the  thighs.  (M.  M. 
Evans,  "Chapters  on  Greek  Dress,"  p.  34.) 

Among  the  Greeks,  who  were  inclined  to  accept  the  doctrines  of 
Cynicism,  it  was  held  that,  while  shame  is  not  unreasonable,  what  is 
good  may  be  done  and  discussed  before  all  men.  There  are  a  number 
of  authorities  who  say  that  Crates  and  Hipparchia  consummated  their 
marriage  in  tlie  presence  of  many  spectators.  Lactantius  (Inst,  iii,  15) 
says  that  the  practice  was  common,  but  this  Zeller  is  inclined  to  doubt. 
(Zeller,  "Socrates  and  the  Socratic  Schools,"  translated  from  the  Third 
German  Edition,  1897.) 

"Among  the  Tyrrhenians,  who  carry  their  luxury  to  an  extraor- 
dinary pitch,  Timseus  in  his  first  book  relates  that  the  female  servants 
wait  on  the  men  in  a  state  of  nudity.  And  Theopompus.  in  the  forty- 
third  book  of  his  'History,'  states  that  it  is  a  law  among  the  Tyr- 
rhenians that  all  their  women  should  be  in  common;  and  that  the 
women  pay  the  greatest  attention  to  their  persons,  and  often  practice 
gymnastic  exercises,  naked,  among  the  men,  and  sometimes  with  one 
another;  for  that  it  is  not  accounted  shameful  for  them  to  be  seen 
naked.  .  .  .  Nor  is  it  reckoned  among  the  Tyrrhenians  at  all  dis- 
graceful either  to  do  or  suflFer  anything  in  the  open  air,  or  to  be  seen 
while  it  is  going  on;  for  it  is  quite  the  custom  of  their  country,  and 
they  are  so  far  from  thinking  it  disgraceful  that  they  even  say,  when 

2 


18  PSYCHOLOGY    OF   SEX. 

the  master  of  the  house  is  indulging  his  appetite,  and  anyone  asks  for 
him,  that  he  is  doing  so  and  so,  using  the  coarsest  possible  words. 
.  .  .  And  they  are  very  beautiful,  as  is  natural  for  people  to  be  who 
live  delicateh',  and  who  take  care  of  their  persons."  (Athenaeus,  ''Deip- 
nosophists,"  Bohn's  translation,  vol.  iii,  p.  830.) 

Dennis  throws  doubt  on  the  foregoing  statement  of  Athenseus  re- 
garding the  Tyrrhenians  or  Etruscans,  and  points  out  •  that  the  repre- 
sentations of  women  in  Etruscan  tombs  show  them  as  clothed,  even  the 
breast  being  rarely  uncovered.  Nudity,  he  remarks,  was  a  Greek,  not 
an  Etruscan,  characteristic.  "To  the  nudity  of  the  Spartan  women  I 
need  but  refer;  that  Tliessalian  women  are  described  by  Pers?eus 
dancing  at  banquets  naked,  or  with  a  very  scanty  covering  {cf. 
Athenaeus,  xiii,  c.  86).  The  maidens  of  Chios  wrestled  naked  with  the 
youth  in  the  gymnasium,  which  Athenaeus  (xiii,  20)  pronounces  to  be 
'a  beautiful  sight.'  And  at  the  marriage-feast  of  Caranus  the  Mace- 
donian women  tumblers  performed  naked  before  the  guests  (Athenieus, 
iv,  3)."'  (G.  Dennis,  "Cities  and  Cemeteries  of  Etruria,"  1883,  vol.  i, 
p.  321.) 

In  the  second  century  the  physician  Aretaeus,  writing  at  Rome, 
remarks:  "In  many  cases,  owing  to  involuntary  restraint  from  modesty 
at  assemblies,  and  at  banquets,  the  bladder  becomes  distended,  and 
from  the  consequent  loss  of  its  contractile  power  it  no  longer  evacuates 
the  urine."  ("On  the  Causes  and  Symptoms  of  Acute  Diseases,"  Book 
II,  Chapter  X.) 

Apuleius,  writing  in  the  second  century,  says:  "Most  Avomen.  in 
order  to  exhibit  their  native  gracefulness  and  allurements,  divest  them- 
selves  of  all  their  garments  and  long  to  show  their  naked  beauty,  being 
conscious  that  they  shall  please  more  by  the  rosy  redness  of  their  skin 
than  by  the  golden  splendor  of  their  robes."  (Thomas  Taylor's  trans- 
lation of  "Metamorphosis,"  p.  28.) 

Christianity  seems  to  have  profoundly  affected  habits  of  thought 
and  feeling  by  uniting  together  the  merely  natural  emotion  of  sexual 
reserve  with,  on  the  one  hand,  the  masculine  virtue  of  modesty — mndestia 
— and.  on  the  other,  the  prescription  of  sexual  abstinence.  Tertullian 
admirably  illustrates  this  confusion,  and  his  treatises  "De  Pudicitia"  and 
"De  Cultu  Feminarum"  are  instructive  from  the  present  point  of  view. 
In  the  latter  he  remarks  (Book  II,  Chapter  I)  :  "Salvation — and  not  of 
women  only,  but  likewise  of  men — consists  in  the  exhibition  principally 
of  modesty.  Since  we  are  all  the  temple  of  God,  modesty  is  the  sacris- 
tan and  priestess  of  that  temple,  who  is  to  suffer  nothing  unclean  or 
profane  to  enter  it.  for  fear  that  the  God  who  inhabits  it  should  be 
oU'endod.  .  .  .  ^lost  women,  either  from  simple  ignorance  or  from 
dissimulation,  have  the  liardihood  so  to  walk  as  if  modesty  consisted 
only  in  tin*  int^'grity  of  the  flesh  and  in  turning  away  from  fornication, 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MODESTY.  19 

and  tlieie  were  no  need  for  anytliing  else, — in  dress  and  ornament,  the 
studied  graces  of  form, — wearing  in  their  gait  the  self-same  appearance 
as  the  women  of  the  nations  from  whom  the  sense  of  true  modesty  is 
absent." 

The  earliest  Christian  ideal  of  modesty,  not  long  maintained,  is 
well  sliown  in  an  epistle  which,  there  is  some  reason  to  suppose,  was 
written  by  Clement  of  Rome.  "And  if  we  see  it  to  be  requisite  to  stand 
and  pray  for  the  sake  of  the  woman,  and  to  speak  words  of  exhortation 
and  edification,  we  call  the  brethren  and  all  the  holy' sisters  and  maidens, 
likewise  all  the  other  women  who  are  there,  with  all  modesty  and  becom- 
ing behavior  to  come  and  feast  on  the  truth.  And  those  among  us  who 
are  skilled  in  speaking  speak  to  them,  and  exhort  tliem  in  these  words 
which  God  has  given  us.  And  tlien  we  pray,  and  salute  one  another, 
the  men  the  men.  But  the  women  and  the  maidens  will  wrap  their 
hands  in  their  garments;  we  also,  with  circumspection  and  with  all 
purity,  our  eyes  looking  upw  ard,  shall  wrap  our  right  hand  in  our  gar- 
ments; and  then  they  will  come  and  give  us  the  salutation  on  our  right 
hand  wrapped  in  our  garments.  Then  we  go  where  God  permits  us." 
("Two  Epistles  Concerning  Virginity";  Second  Epistle,  Chapter  III, 
vol.  xiv.     Ante-Xicene  Christian  Library,  p.  384.) 

"Women  will  scarce  strip  naked  before  their  own  husbands,  affect- 
ing a  plausible  pretence  of  modesty,"  writes  Clement  of  Alexandria, 
about  the  end  of  the  second  century,  "but  any  others  who  Avish  may 
see  them  at  home  shut  up  in  their  ow  n  baths,  for  they  are  not  ashamed 
to  strip  before  spectators,  as  if  exposing  their  persons  for  sale.  The 
baths  are  opened  promiscuously  to  men  and  women;  and  there  they 
strip  for  licentious  indulgence  (for,  from  looking,  men  get  to  loving), 
as  if  their  modesty  had  been  washed  away  in  the  bath.  Those  who 
have  not  become  utterly  destitute  of  modesty  shut  out  strangers,  but 
bathe  with  their  own  servants,  and  strip  naked  before  their  slaves,  and 
are  rubbed  by  them,  giving  to  the  crouching  menial  liberty  to  lust,  by 
permitting  fearless  handling,  for  those  who  are  introduced  before  their 
naked  mistresses  while  in  the  bath  study  to  strip  themselves  in  order  to 
show'  audacity  in  lust,  casting  off  fear  in  consequence  of  the  wicked 
custom.  The  ancient  athletes,  ashamed  to  exhibit  a  man  naked,  pre- 
served their  modesty  by  going  through  the  contest  in  drawers;  but 
these  women,  divesting  themselves  of  their  modesty  along  with  their 
chemise,  wish  to  appear  beautiful,  but,  contrary  to  their  wish,  are  simply 
proved  to  be  wicked."  (Clement  of  Alexandria,  "Psedagogus,"  Book  III, 
Chapter  V.  For  elucidations  of  this  passage  see  Migne's  "Patrologiae 
Cursus  Completus,"  vol.  vii.  It  appears  that  Hadrian,  Marcus  Aurelius, 
and  Severus  endeavored  to  put  a  stop  to  promiscuous  bathing.  It  was 
forbidden  by  the  early  Apostolical  Constitutions,  but  Cyprian  found  it 
necessary  to  upbraid  even  virgins  vowed  to  chastity  for  continuing  the 


20  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

custom.  In  Rudeek's  "Geschichte  der  offentliclien  Sittlichkeit  in  Deutsch- 
land"  an  interesting  chapter,  with  contemporary  illustrations,  is  devoted 
to  the  custom  of  men  and  women  bathing  together  naked,  a  custom 
preserved  in  Europe,  at  least  to  the  end  of  the  last  century.) 

"\Yomen,''  says  Clement  again,  "should  not  seek  to  be  graceful  by 
avoiding  broad  drinking  vessels  that  oblige  them  to  stretch  their  mouths, 
in  order  to  drink  from  narrow  alabastra  that  cause  them  indecently 
to  throw  back  the  head,  revealing  to  men  their  necks  and  breasts.  The 
mere  thought  of  what  she  is  ought  to  inspire  a  woman  with  modesty. 
.  .  .  On  no  account  must  a  woman  be  permitted  to  show  to  a  man 
any  portion  of  her  body  naked,  for  fear  lest  both  fall:  the  one  by 
gazing  eagerly,  the  other  by  delighting  to  attract  those  eager  glances." 
("Peedagogus."  Book  II,  Chapter  V.) 

In  the  Gnostic  "Judas  Thomas's  Acts"  we  are  told  how  a  bride, 
a  kings  daughter,  and  her  bridegroom  were  converted  by  an  apparition 
of  the  Lord  in  the  bridal  chamber,  and  passed  the  night  in  continence. 
"And  in  the  morning  when  it  was  dawn  the  king  had  the  table  furnished 
early  and  brought  in  before  the  bridegroom  and  bride.  And  he  found 
them  sitting  the  one  opposite  the  other,  and  the  face  of  the  bride  was 
uncovered,  she  was  sitting,  and  the  bridegroom  was  very  cheerful.  The 
mother  of  the  bride  saith  to  her:  'Why  art  thou  sitting  thus,  and  art 
not  ashamed,  but  art  as  if,  lo,  thou  wert  married  a  long  time,  and  for 
many  a  day?'  And  her  father,  too,  said:  'Is  it  thy  great  love  for  thy 
husband  that  prevents  thee  from  even  veiling  thyself?'  And  the  bride 
answered  and  said:  'Truly,  my  father,  I  am  in  great  love,  and  am 
praying  to  my  Lord  that  I  may  continue  in  this  love  which  I  have 
experienced  this  night.  I  am  not  veiled,  because  the  veil  of  corruption 
is  taken  from  me,  and  I  am  not  ashamed,  because  the  deed  of  shame 
has  been  removed  far  from  me.'"  (Wright.  "Apocryphal  Acts,"  from 
the  Syriac.) 

James,  Bishop  of  Nisibis,  in  the  fourth  century,  was  a  man  of  great 
holiness.  We  are  told  by  Thedoret  that  once,  when  James  had  newly 
come  into  Persia,  it  was  vouchsafed  to  him  to  perform  a  miracle  under 
the  following  circumstances:  He  chanced  to  pass  by  a  fountain  where 
young  women  were  washing  their  linen,  and,  his  modesty  being  ])ro- 
foundly  shocked  by  the  exposure  involved  in  this  occupation,  he  cursed 
the  fountain,  which  instantly  dried  up,  and  he  changed  the  hair  of  the 
girls  from  black  to  a  sandy  color.  (Jortin,  "Remarks  on  Ecclesiastical 
History,"  vol.  iii,  j).  4.) 

Procopius,  writing  in  the  sixth  century  after  Christ,  and  narrating 
how  the  ]<]jn])ress  Theodora  in  early  life  would  often  apj)(>ar  almost 
naked  before  the  public  in  the  theatre,  adds  that  she  would  willingly 
hav(!  appeared  altogether  nude,  but  that  "no  woman  is  allowed  to  ex- 
pose herself  altogetlier  unless  she  wears  at  least  sliort  drawers  over  the 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MODESTY.  21 

lower  part  of  the  abdomen."  It  is  said  that  this  is  the  first  reference 
to  this  theatrical  garment,  which  thus  replaced  complete  nudity  by 
"an  innovation  of  Byzantine  decadence."  I  maj^  add,  however,  that 
there  were  certainly  earlier  attempts  to  abolish  the  public  exhibition 
of  feminine  nakedness.  Male  athletes  were  entirely  naked,  but  Chrysos- 
tom  mentions,  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  century,  that  Arcadius  attempted 
to  put  down  the  August  festival  [Majuma],  during  which  women  ap- 
peared naked  in  the  theatres  or  swimming  in  large  baths. 

"In  the  years  1450-70  the  use  of  the  cod-piece  was  introduced, 
whereby  the  attributes  of  manhood  were  accentuated  in  the  most 
shameless  manner.  It  was,  in  fact,  the  avow-ed  aim  at  that  period  to 
attract  attention  to  these  parts.  The  cod-piece  was  sometimes  colored 
differently  from  the  rest  of  the  garments,  often  stuffed  out  to  enlarge 
it  artificially,  and  decorated  with  ribbons."  (Rudeck,  "Geschichte  der 
offentlichen  Sittlichkeit  in  Deutschland,"  pp.  45-48.  Groos  refers  to  the 
significance  of  this  fashion,  "Spiele  der  Menschen,"  p.  337.) 

"The  shirt  first  began  to  be  worn  [in  Germany]  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  From  this  fact,  as  ^\e\\  as  from  the  custom  of  public  bathing, 
Ave  reach  the  remarkable  result  that  for  the  German  people  the  sight 
of  complete  nakedness  was  the  daily  rule  up  to  the  sixteenth  century. 
Everyone  undressed  completely  before  going  to  bed,  and  in  the  vapor- 
baths  no  covering  was  used.  Again,  the  dances,  both  of  the  peasants 
and  the  townspeople,  were  characterized  by  very  high  leaps  into  the 
air.  It  was  the  chief  delight  of  the  dancers  for  the  male  to  raise  his 
partner  as  high  as  possible  in  the  air  so  that  her  dress  flew  up.  That 
feminine  modesty  was  in  this  respect  very  indifferent  we  know  from 
countless  references  made  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries.  It 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  throughout  the  middle  ages  women  w^ore 
no  underclothes,  and  even  in  the  seventeenth  century  the  wearing  of 
drawers  by  Italian  women  was  regarded  as  singular.  That  with  the  dis- 
appearance of  the  baths  and  the  use  of  body-linen  a  powerful  influence 
was  exerted  on  the  creation  of  modesty  there  can  be  little  doubt." 
(Rudeck,  "Geschichte  der  offentlichen  Sittlichkeit  in  Deutschland,"  pp. 
57,  399,  etc.) 

"It  was  at  the  epoch  when  Calvinism  began  to  flourish  that  the 
nude  Avas  first  proscribed  from  custom,  and  took  refuge  in  art,  which 
alone  preserved  the  tradition  of  it.  Formerly,  as  still  in  the  days  of 
Charles  Y,  there  Avas  no  public  festival  without  a  scheme  of  beautiful 
naked  girls  [it  should  be  added  that  these  were  usually  prostitutes] ; 
nakedness  was  so  little  feared  that  adulterous  women  were  led  naked 
through  the  streets,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  the  Mysteries 
such  parts  as  those  of  Adam  and  Eve  were  played  by  persons  who  were 
without  the  hideous  luxury  of  tights."  (Remy  de  Gourmont,  "Le  Livre 
des  Masques,"  p.  184.) 


22  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

"At  Cork,"  says  Fynes  Moryson.  in  1617.  "'I  have  seen  with  these 
eves  vouno^  maids  stark  naked  o[rindinsr  corn  with  certain  stones  to 
make  cakes  thereof.'  (Moryson,  'Itinerary,"'  Part  3,  Book  III,  Chap- 
ter V.) 

"In  the  more  remote  parts  of  Ireland."  ^loryson  elsewhere  says, 
where  the  English  laws  and  manners  are  unknown,  "the  very  chief 
of  the  Irish,  men  as  well  as  women,  go  naked  in  very  winter-time, 
only  having  their  privy  parts  covered  with  a  rag  of  linen  and  their 
bodies  with  a  loose  mantle.  This  I  speak  of  my  own  experience."  He 
goes  on  to  tell  of  a  Bohemian  baron,  just  come  from  the  Xorth  of  Ire- 
land, who  "told  me  in  great  earnestness  that  he.  comincj  to  the  house 
of  Ocane,  a  great  lord  among  them,  was  met  at  the  door  with  sixteen 
women,  all  naked  excepting  their  loose  mantles;  whereof  eight  or  ten 
were  very  fair,  and  two  seemed  very  nymphs,  with  which  strange  sight, 
his  eyes  being  dazzled,  they  led  him  into  the  house,  and  then  sitting 
down  by  the  fire  with  crossed  legs  like  tailors,  and  so  low  as  could 
not  but  offend  chaste  eyes,  desired  him  to  set  down  with  them.  Soon 
after  Ocane.  the  lord  of  the  country,  came  in,  all  naked  excepting  a 
loose  mantle,  and  shoes,  which  he  put  off  as  soon  as  he  came  in.  and 
entertaining  the  baron  after  his  best  manner  in  the  Latin  tongue,  desired 
him  to  put  off  his  apparel,  which  he  thought  to  be  a  burthen  to  him, 
and  to  sit  naked  by  the  fire  with  this  naked  company.  But  the 
baron  .  .  .  for  shame  durst  not  put  off  his  apparel."  (Part  3,  Book 
IV,  Chapter  II.) 

Coryat,  when  traveling  in  Italy  in  the  early  part  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  found  that  in  Lombardy  many  of  the  women  and  chil- 
dren wore  only  smocks,  or  shirts,  in  the  hot  weather.  At  Venice  and 
Padua  he  found  that  wives,  widows,  and  maids  walk  with  naked 
breasts,  manv  with  backs  also  naked,  almost  to  the  middle.  (Corvat, 
"Crudities."  IGll.  The  fashion  of  dccolletr  garments,  it  may  be  re- 
marked, only  begun  in  the  fourteenth  century:  previously,  the  women 
of  Europe  generally  covered  themselves  up  to  the  neck.) 

In  northern  Italy,  some  years  ago.  a  fire  occurred  at  night  in  a 
house  in  which  two  girls  were  sleeping,  naked,  according  to  the  custom. 
One  threw  herself  out  and  Mas  saved,  the  other  returned  for  a  garment, 
and  was  burnt  to  death.  The  narrator  of  the  incident  fa  man]  ex- 
pressed strong  approval  of  the  more  modest  girl's  action.  (Private  com- 
munication.) 

Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montague  writes  in  1717  of  the  Turkish  ladies 
at  the  baths  at  Sophia:  "The  first  sofas  were  covered  with  cushions 
and  rich  carpets,  on  which  sat  the  ladies,  and  on  the  second,  their  slaves 
behind  them,  but  without  any  distinction  of  rank  in  their  dress,  all 
being  in  a  state  of  Nature;  that  is,  in  plain  English,  stark  naked, 
without  anv   beautv  or  defect  concealed.     Yet  there   was  not  the  least 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MODESTY.  23 

\vanton  smile  or  immodest  gesture  among  tliem.  They  walked  and 
moved  with  the  same  majestic  grace  which  Milton  describes  of  our 
general  motlier.  I  am  here  convinced  of  the  truth  of  a  reflection  I  had 
often  made,  that  if  it  was  the  fashion  to  go  naked  the  face  would  be 
hardly  observed."     ("Letters  and  Works,"  18CG,  vol.  i,  p.  285.) 

Edwards,  describing  a  stay  among  Brazilians  in  the  Para  province, 
says:  "The  Senhora  Henriquez  made  a  little  picnic  party  for  our  enter- 
tainment, which  passed  off  delightfully,  and  much  as  such  a  party 
would  have  done  at  home.  But  there  was  one  feature  that  distinguished 
it  from  any  pleasure-party  I  ever  participated  in  amid  civilization  and 
refinement,  and  that  was  the  bathing  at  the  fiiiale.  In  this  there  was 
little  fastidiousness,  although  perfect  decorum.  While  the  gentlemen 
were  in  the  water,  the  ladies  upon  the  bank  were  applauding,  criticising, 
and  comparing  styles,  for  there  were  almost  as  many  nations  of  us  as 
individuals;  and  when,  in  their  turns,  they  darted  through  the  water, 
or  dived,  like  streaks  of  light,  to  the  very  bottom,  they  were  in  nowise 
distressed  that  we  scrupled  not  at  the  same  privilege.  They  were  all 
practiced  and  graceful  swimmers,  but  the  senhora  particularly, — as  she 
rose  with  her  long  hair,  long  enough  to  sweep  the  ground  when  walking, 
enshrouding  her  in  its  silken  folds, — might  have  been  taken  for  the 
living,  new-world  Venus.  We  never  saw,  as  some  have  asserted  is  the 
case,  both  sexes  promiscuously  in  the  water.  (W.  H.  Edwards,  "A 
Voyage  up  the  River  Amazon,"  Chapter  XV,  1846.) 

Taine  points  out  that  it  was  in  France  during  the  eighteenth  cent- 
ury that  the  idea  developed  that  modesty,  like  dress,  is  a  convention. 
He  refers  to  Mme.  d'Epinay's  "Memoirs"  and  the  conversation  between 
Duclos  and  Saint-Lambert  at  Mile.  Quinault's;  also  to  Rousseau's 
"Confessions,"  Part  1,  Book  V,  and  the  principles  taught  by  M.  de  Tavel 
to  Mme.  de  Warens  [the  latter  reference  is,  however,  scarcely  to  the 
point,  since  de  Tavel's  principles  seem  to  have  hjsen  merely  professed  in 
order  to  seduce  Mme.  de  Warens].  (Taine,  "Les  Origines,"  tome  i, 
"L'Ancien  Regime."  I  may  also  refer  to  Diderot's  "Supplement  au 
Voyage  de  Bougainville.") 

Mary  Wollstonecraft  quotes  the  following  remarks:  "The  lady 
who  asked  the  question  whether  women  may  be  instructed  in  the 
modern  system  of  botany  was  accused  of  ridiculous  prudery;  neverthe- 
less, if  she  had  proposed  the  question  to  me,  I  should  certainly  have 
answered:  'They  cannot!'"  She  further  quotes  from  an  educational 
book:  "It  would  be  needless  to  caution  you  against  putting  your  hand, 
by  chance,  under  your  neck-handkerchief;  for  a  modest  woman  never 
did  so."  (Mary  Wollstonecraft,  "The  Rights  of  Woman,"  1792,  pp.  277, 
289.) 

In  the  present  century  a  knowledge  of  the  physiology  of  plants 
is  not  usually  considered  inconsistent   with   modesty,  but  a   knowledge 


24  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

of  animal  physiology  is  still  so  considered  by  many.  Dr.  H.  R.  Hopkins, 
of  New  York,  wrote  in  1895  regarding  the  teaching  of  physiology:  '*How 
can  we  teach  growing  girls  the  functions  of  the  various  parts  of  the 
human  body  and  still  leave  them  their  modesty?  That  is  the  practical 
question  that  has  puzzled  me  for  years." 

In  England  tlie  use  of  drawers  was  almost  unknown  half  a  century 
ago,  and  was  considered  immodest  and  unfeminine.  Tilt,  a  distinguished 
gynecologist  of  that  period,  advocated  such  garments,  made  of  fine 
calico  and  not  to  descend  below  the  knee,  on  hygienic  grounds.  "Thus 
understood,"  he  added,  "the  adoption  of  drawers  will  doubtless  become 
more  general  in  this  country,  as,  being  worn  without  the  knowledge  of 
the  general  observer,  they  will  be  robbed  of  the  prejudice  usually  at- 
tached to  an  appendage  deemed  masculine."  (Tilt,  "Elements  of  Health," 
1852,  p.   193.) 

Prof.  Irving  Rosse,  of  Washington,  refers  to  "Xew  England  pru- 
dishness,"  and  "the  colossal  modesty  of  some  Xew  York  policemen,  who 
in  certain  cases  want  to  give  written  rather  than  oral  testimony."  He 
adds:  "I  have  known  this  sentiment  carried  to  sucli  an  extent  in  a 
Massachusetts  small  town  that  a  shop-keeper  was  obliged  to  drape  a 
small,  but  innocent,  statuette  displayed  in  his  window."  (Irving  Rosse, 
Viiginia  Medical  iJonthly,  October,  1892.)  I  am  told  that  popular  feel- 
ing in  Soutli  Africa  would  not  permit  the  exhibition  of  the  nude  in  the 
Art  Collections  of  Cape  Town. 

An  American  physician,  Dr.  Green,  referring  to  the  modesty  of 
women  who  refuse  to  submit  to  rectal  examination,  remarks:  "This 
feeling  does  not  prevail  exclusively  among  women,  but  men  also  some- 
times declare  themselves  averse  to  any  such  procedure.  On  one  occa- 
sion a  prominent  Western  physician,  who  had  suffered  several  years  from 
a  painful  rectal  trouble,  continued  to  endure  the  disease  because  of  the 
great  repugnance  he  always  had  felt  even  for  an  ordinary  examination. 
Patients  in  dispensary  practice  often  run  the  gauntlet  of  rigid  exami- 
nation in  almost  every  department,  and  yet  harbor  distressing  and  even 
dangerous  diseases  rather  than  submit  to  rectal  examination."  {Medical 
standard,  189G.) 

Recently  (1898)  it  was  stated  that  the  Pliiladelphia  Jjidica'  Home 
•Jonrmil  had  decided  to  avoid,  in  future,  all  reference  to  ladies'  under- 
linen  because  "the  treatment  of  this  subject  in  print  calls  for  minutim 
of  detail  which  is  extremely  and  T)ardonablv  offensive  to  refined  and 
sensitive  women." 

Lombroso  and  Ferrero  mention,  as  noteworthy,  that  "strange, 
vicarious  form  of  modesty  observed  in  many  prostitutes  who  are 
ashamed  to  be  examined  in  the  sexual  organs  when  not  clean,  or  during 
the  montlily   ])eriods,  displaying  sometimes  in   this  respect  a  resistance 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MODESTY.  25 

greater  than  that  ofTered  by  the  modesty  of  respectable  women."  (Lom- 
broso  e  Ferrero,  "La  Donna  Delinquente,"  p.   540.) 

With  reference  to  the  advice  given  by  an  authority  on  midwifery 
regarding  the  washing  of  the  external  genitals  before  childbirth,  a  doctor 
writes  to  a  medical  journal:  "No  doubt  this  is  necessary,  and  might  be 
done  with  an  educated  person;  but  as  we  descend  the  social  scale,  it  is 
astonishing  to  find  the  great  amount  of  mock  modesty,  and  I  am  afraid 
few  women  would  allow  themselves  to  be  exposed  as  Dr.  Jardine  advo- 
cates. I  remember  one  case  in  which  the  woman  was  so  hypersensitive 
that  it  M  as  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  I  was  even  allowed  to  make 
a  digital  examination  under  the  clothes.  [It  is,  however,  unreasonable 
in  this  connection  to  speak  of  viock  modesty.]  {Bintish  Medical  Journal, 
September  24,  1898.) 

"A  man,  married  twenty  years,  told  me  that  he  had  never  seen 
his  wife  entirely  nude.  Such  concealment  of  the  external  reproductive 
organs  by  married  people  appears  to  be  common.  Judging  from  my 
own  inquiry,  very  few  women  care  to  look  upon  male  nakedness,  and 
many  women,  though  not  wanting  in  esthetic  feeling,  find  no  beauty 
in  man's  form.  Some  are  positively  repelled  by  the  sight  of  nakedness, 
even  that  of  a  husband  or  lover.  On  the  contrary,  most  men  delight  in 
gazing  upon  the  uncovered  figure  of  women.  It  seems  that  only  highly- 
cultivated  and  imaginative  women  enjoy  the  spectacle  of  a  finely-shaped 
nude  man  (especially  after  attending  art-classes  and  drawing  from  the 
nude,  as  I  am  told  by  a  lady  artist).  Or  else  the  majority  of  women 
dissemble  their  curiosity  or  admiration.  A  woman  of  seventy,  mother 
of  several  children,  said  to  a  young  wife  with  whom  I  am  acquainted: 
'I  have  never  seen  a  naked  man  in  my  life.'  This  old  lady's  sister 
confessed  that  she  had  never  looked  at  licr  o\cn  nakedness  in  the  whole 
course  of  her  life.  She  said  that  it  'frightened'  her.  She  was  the  mother 
of  three  sons.  A  maiden  woman  of  the  same  family  told  her  niece  that 
women  were  'disgusting  because  they  have  monthly  discharges.'  Tlie 
niece  suggested  that  women  have  no  choice  in  the  matter,  to  which  the 
aunt  replied:  'I  know  that;  but  it  doesn't  make  them  less  disgusting.' 
I  have  heard  of  a  girl  who  died  from  hemorrhage  of  the  womb,  refusing, 
through  shame,  to  make  the  ailment  kno^\  n  to  her  family.  The  misery 
suflfered  by  some  women  at  the  anticipation  of  a  medical  examination 
appears  to  be  very  acute.  Husbands  have  told  me  of  brides  who  sob 
and  tremble  with  fright  on  the  wedding-night,  the  hysteria  being  some- 
times alarming.  E.,  aged  25,  refused  her  husband  for  six  weeks  after 
marriage,  exhibiting  the  greatest  fear  of  his  approach.  Ignorance  of 
the  nature  of  the  sexual  connection  is  often  the  cause  of  exaggerated 
alarm.  In  Jersey  I  used  to  hear  of  a  bride  who  ran  to  the  window  and 
screamed  'murder'  on  the  wedding-night."     (Private  communication.) 

At  the  present  day  it  is  not  regarded  as  incompatible  with  modesty 


26  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

to  exhibit  the  lower  part  of  the  thigh  when  in  swimming  costume,  but 
it  is  immodest  to  exhibit  the  upper  part  of  the  thigh.  In  swimming 
competitions  a  minimum  of  clothing  must  be  combined  with  the  demands 
of  modesty.  The  regulations  of  the  Swimming  Clubs  aflBliated  to  the 
Amateur  Swimming  Association  require  that  the  male  swimmer's  cos- 
tume shall  extend  not  less  than  eight  inches  from  the  bifurcation  down- 
ward, and  that  tlie  female  swimmer's  costume  shall  extend  to  within 
not  more  than  three  inches  from  the  knee.  (A  prolonged  discussion,  we 
are  told,  arose  as  to  whether  the  costume  should  come  to  one,  two,  or 
three  inches  from  the  knee,  and  the  proposal  of  the  youngest  lady  swim- 
mer present,  that  the  costume  ought  to  be  very  scanty,  met  with  little 
approval.)  The  modesty  of  women  is  thus  seen  to  be  greater  than  that 
of  men  by,  roughly  speaking,  about  two  inches.  The  same  difference 
may  be  seen  in  the  sleeves:  the  male  sleeve  must  extend  for  two  inches, 
the  female  sleeve  four  inches,  down  the  arm.  (Daily  papers,  September 
26,  1898.) 

"At ,  bathing  in  a  state  of  Nature  was  dr  vlfjueiir  for  the 

elite  of  the  bathers,  while  our  Sunday  visitors  from  the  slums  frequently 
made  a  great  point  of  wearing  bathing  costumes;  it  was  frequently 
noticed  that  those  who  were  most  anxious  to  avoid  exposing  their  per- 
sons were  distinguished  by  the  foulness  of  their  language.  My  impression 
was  that  their  foul-mindedness  deprived  them  of  the  consciousness  of 
safety  from  coarse  jests.  If  I  were  bathing  alone  among  blackguards  I 
should  probably  feel  uncomfortable  myself  if  without  costume.*'  (Private 
communication. ) 

"A  woman  mentioned  to  me  that  a  man  came  to  her  and  told  her 
in  confidence  his  distress  of  mind:  he  feared  he  had  corrupted  his  wife 
because  she  got  into  a  bath  in  his  presence  with  her  baby,  and  enjoyed 
his  looking  at  her  splashing  about.  He  was  deeply  distressed,  thinking 
he  must  have  done  her  harm  and  destroyed  her  modesty.  The  woman 
to  whom  this  ^^as  said  felt  naturally  indignant,  but  also  it  gave  her 
the  feeling  as  if  every  man  may  secretly  despise  a  woman  for  the  very 
things  he  teaches  her,  and  only  meets  her  confiding  delight  with  regret 
or  dislike."     (Private  communication.) 

In  a  study  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  American  high-school 
girls  Dr.  ITelrn  Kennedy  refers  to  the  "modesty"  which  makes  it  im- 
possible even  for  mothers  and  daughters  to  speak  to  each  other  con- 
cerning the  menstrual  functions.  "Thirty-six  girls  in  this  high-school 
passed  into  womanhood  with  no  knowledge  whatever,  from  a  proper 
source,  of  all  that  makes  them  women.  Thirty-nine  were  probably  not 
much  wiser,  for  tliey  stated  that  they  had  received  some  instruction, 
hut  had  not  talked  freely  on  the  matter.  From  the  fact  that  the  curious 
girl  did  not  talk  freely  on  what  naturally  interested  her.  it  is  possible 
she  was  put  off  with  a  few  words  as  to  personal  care,  and  a  reprimand 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MODESTY.  27 

for  her  curiosity.  Less  than  half  of  the  girls  felt  free  to  talk  with  their 
mothers  of  this  most  important  matter!"  (Helen  Kennedy,  "Eifects  of 
Higli-sehool  Work  upon  Girls  during  Adolescence,"  Pcd(ujo(jical  Semi- 
nary, June,  189G.) 

Much  the  same  was  true  of  PZngland  some  years  earlier,  if  not  now. 
Thus,  Tilt,  Avriting  in  1852  ("Elements  of  Health  and  Principles  of 
Female  Hygiene,"  p.  183),  stated  tliat  from  a  statistical  inquiry  regard- 
ing the  onset  of  menstruation  in  nearly  1000  women  he  found  that  "25 
per  cent,  were  totally  unprepared  for  its  appearance;  that  13  out  of 
the  25  were  much  frightened,  screamed,  or  went  into  hysterical  fits; 
and  that  6  out  of  the  13  thought  themselves  wounded  and  washed  with 
cold  water.  Of  tliose  frightened  .  .  .  the  general  health  was  seri- 
ously impaired." 

The  foregoing  selection  of  facts  might,  of  course,  be  indefinitely 
enlarged,  since  I  have  not  generally  quoted  from  any  previous  collection 
of  facts  bearing  on  the  question  of  modesty.  Such  collections  may  be 
found  in  Ploss  and  Max  Bartels  "Das  Weib,"  a  work  that  is  constantly 
appearing  in  new  and  enlarged  editions;  Herbert  Spencer,  "Descriptive 
Sociology"  (especially  under  such  headings  as  "Clothing,"  "Moral  Senti- 
ments," and  ".^'^sthetic  Products")  :  Rudeck,  "Geschichte  der  offentlichen 
Sittlichkeit"  passim;  Ahvin  Schultz,  "Das  hofische  Leben  zur  Zeit  der 
^linnesinger,"  B.  1;  A.  Franklin,  "Vie  Privee  d'Autrefois,"  especially 
volume  on  "Hygiene,"  appendixes ;  ]\Iantegazza,  "Amori  degli  Uomini," 
Chapter  II;  Westermarck,  "Marriage,"  Chapter  IX;  Peschel,  "Races  of 
Man,"  pp.  171  et  srq.;  Letourneau,  "L'Evolution  de  la  Morale,"  p.  12G 
€t  seq.;  G.  Mortimer,  "Chapters  on  Human  Love,"  Chapter  IV;  and  in 
the  general  anthropological  works  of  "Waitz-Gerland,  Ratzcl,  and  others. 

That  modesty — like  all  the  closeh'-allied  emotions — is  based 
on  fear,  one  of  the  most  primitive  of  the  emotions,  seems  to  be 
fairly  evident.^  The  association  of  modesty  and  fear  is  even 
a  very  ancient  observation,  and  is  found  in  the  fragments  of 
Epicharmus.  Modesty  is,  indeed,  an  agglomeration  of  fears, 
especially,  as  I  hope  to  show,  of  two  important  and  distinct 
fears:  one  of  much  earlier  than  human  origin,  and  supplied 
solely  by  the  female;  the  other  of  more  distinctly  human  char- 
acter, and  of  social,  rather  than  sexual,  origin. 

A  child  left  to  itself,  though  very  bashful,  is  wholly  devoid 


^  Fliess  ("Die  Beziehungen  zwischen  Xase  und  weiblichen  Gesch- 
lechts-Organen,"  p.  194)  remarks  on  the  fact  that,  in  the  Bible  narrative 
of  Eden,  shame  and  fear  are  represented  as  being  brought  into  tlie  world 
together:     Adam  feared  God  because  he  was  naked. 


28  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

of  modesty.^  Everyone  is  familiar  with  the  shocking  inconven- 
ances  of  children  in  speech  and  act,  with  the  charming  ways  in 
which  they  innocently  disregard  the  conventions  of  modesty 
their  elders  thrust  upon  them,  or,  even  when  anxious  to  carry 
them  out,  wholly  miss  the  point  at  issue:  as  when  a  child  thinks 
that  to  put  a  little  garment  round  the  neck  satisfies  the  demands 
of  modesty.  Under  civilized  conditions  the  convention  of  mod- 
esty long  precedes  its  real  development.  It  may  fairly  be  said 
that  this  takes  place  at  the  advent  of  puberty.-  We  may  admit, 
with  Perez,  one  of  the  very  few  writers  who  touch  on  the  evolu- 
tion of  this  emotion,  that  modesty  may  appear  at  a  very  early 
age  if  sexual  desire  appears  early.^  "We  should  not,  however,  be 
justified  in  asserting  that  on  this  account  modesty  is  a  purely- 
sexual  phenomenon.  The  social  impulses  also  develop  about 
pubert}^,  and  to  that  coincidence  the  compound  nature  of  the 
emotion  of  modesty  may  well  be  largely  due. 

The  sexual  factor  is,  however,  the  simplest  and  most  primi- 
tive element  of  modesty,  and  may,  therefore,  be  mentioned  first. 
Anyone  who  watches  a  bitch,  not  in  heat,  when  approached  by  a 
dog  with  tail  wagging  gallantly,  may  see  the  beginnings  of  mod- 
esty. When  the  dog's  attentions  become  a  little  too  marked,  the 
bitch  squats  firmly  down  on  the  front  legs  and  hind  quarters. 
She  assumes,  that  is  to  say,  an  attitude  which  is  exactly  equiva- 
lent to  that  which  in  the  human  race  is  typified  by  the  classical 
example  of  womanly  modesty  in  the  Medicean  Venus,  who  with- 
draws the  pelvis,  at  the  same  time  holding  one  hand  to  guard 
the  pubes,  the  other  to  guard  the  breasts. "^    The  essential  exprcs- 


^  Bashfulness  in  children  has  been  dealt  with  by  Professor  Baldwin; 
see  especially  his  "^Mental  Development  in  the  Child  and  the  Race," 
Chapter  VI,  pp.  140  et  .saj.,  and  "Social  Interpretations  in  ^Mental  De- 
velopment," Chapter  VI. 

-Professor  Starbuck  ("Psychology  of  Religion,"  Chapter  XXX) 
refers  to  unpublished  investigation  showing  that  recognition  of  the  rights 
of  others  also  exhibits  a  sudden  increment  at  the  age  of  i)\iberty. 

2  Perez,  "L'Knfant  de  Trois  iV  Sept  Ans."  1886,  pp.  207-277.  In  the 
same  ])assage  Perez,  has  some  interesting  and  suggestive  remarks  pointing 
out  tlie  natural  basis  of  the  love  of  the  obscene. 

*  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  Medicean  Venus  is  merely  a  com- 
7»aratively  recent  and  familiar  embodiment  of  a  natural  attitude,  which 
is    very    ancient,   and    had    impressed    sculptors   at   a    far    earlier    period. 


THE  EVOLUTION  OE  MODESTY.  29 

sion  in  each  case  is  that  of  an  intention  to  defend  the  sexual 
centres  against  the  iindesired  advances  of  the  male.  This  is  so 
obvions — though  not,  I  think,  generally  recognized — that  it 
seems  needless  to  insist  upon  it.  The  sexual  modesty  of  the 
female  animal  is  rooted  in  the  sexual  periodicity  of  the  female, 
and  is  an  involuntary  expression  of  the  organic  fact  that  the 
time  for  love  is  not  now.  Inasmuch  as  this  fact  is  true  of  the 
greater  part  of  the  lives  of  all  female  animals  below  man,  the 
expression  itself  becomes  so  habitual  that  it  even  intrudes  at 
those  moments  when  it  has  ceased  to  be  in  place.  "We  may  see 
this  again  illustrated  in  the  bitch,  who,  when  in  heat,  herself 
runs  after  the  male,  and  again  turns  to  flee,  perhaps  only  sub- 
mitting with  much  persuasion  to  his  embrace.  Thus,  modesty 
becomes  something  more  than  a  mere  refusal  of  the  male;  it 
becomes  an  invitation  to  the  male,  and  is  mixed  up  with  his 
ideas  of  what  is  sexually  desirable  in  the  female.  This  would 
alone  serve  to  account  for  the  existence  of  modesty  as  a  psychical 
secondary  sexual  character.  In  this  sense,  and  in  this  sense  only, 
we  may  say,  with  Colin  Scott,  that  "the  feeling  of  shame  is  made 
to  be  overcome."  The  sexual  modesty  of  the  female  is  thus  an 
inevitable  by-product  of  the  naturally  aggressive  attitude  of  the 
male  in  sexual  relationships  and  the  naturally  defensive  attitude 
of  the  female,  this  again  being  founded  on  the  fact  that,  while 
— in  man  and  the  species  allied  to  him — the  sexual  function  in 
the  female  is  periodic,  and  during  most  of  life  a  function  to  be 
guarded  from  the  opposite  sex,  in  the  male  it  rarely  or  never 
needs  to  be  so  guarded.^ 


Reinach.  indeed,  believes  ("La  Sculpture  en  Europe,"  L'Anthropologie, 
Xo.  5,  1895)  that  the  hand  Avas  first  brought  to  the  breast  to  press  out 
the  milk,  and  expresses  the  idea  of  exuberance,  and  that  the  attitude 
of  the  Venus  of  Medici  as  a  symbol  of  modesty  came  later;  he  remarks 
that,  as  regards  both  hands,  this  attitude  may  be  found  in  a  figurine  of 
Cyprus  2000  years  before  Christ.  This  is,  no  doubt,  correct,  and  I  may 
add  that  Babylonian  figurines  of  Ishtar,  the  goddess  of  fertility,  repre- 
sent her  as  clasping  her  hands  to  her  breasts  or  her  womb. 

^  I  do  not  hereby  mean  to  deny  a  certain  degree  of  normal  periodicity 
even  to  the  human  male;  but  such  periodicity  scarcely  involves  any 
element  of  sexual  fear  or  attitude  of  sexual  defence,  in  man  because  it  is 
too  slight  to  involve  complete  latency  of  the  sexual  functions,  in  other 
species  because  latency  of  sexual  function  in  the  male  is  always  accom- 
panied by  corresponding  latency  in  the  female. 


30  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

It  is  on  this  fundamental  sexual  factor  of  modesty,  existing  in  a 
\\  ell-marked  form  even  among  animals,  that  coquetry  is  founded.  I  am 
glad  to  find  myself  on  this  point  in  agreement  with  Professor  Groos,  who, 
in  his  elaborate  study  of  the  play-instinct,  has  reached  the  same  con- 
clusion. So  far  from  being  the  mere  heartless  play  by  which  a  woman 
shows  her  power  over  a  man,  Groos  points  out  that  coquetry  possesses 
"high  biological  and  psychological  significance,"  being  rooted  in  the 
antagonism  between  the  sexual  instinct  and  inborn  modesty.  He  refers 
to  the  roe,  who  runs  away  from  the  stag — but  in  a  circle.  (Groos,  "Die 
Spiele  der  Menschen,"  1899,  p.  339;  also  the  same  author's  "Die  Spiele 
der  Thiere,"  pp.  288  ct  scq.) 

This  fundamental  animal  factor  of  modesty,  rooted  in  the 
natural  facts  of  the  sexual  life  of  the  higher  mammals,  and 
especially  man,  obviously  will  not  explain  all  the  phenomena  of 
modesty;  it  fails  to  account  for  ornament  and  clothing,  and  it 
scarcely  appears  to  furnish  an  adequate  basis  for  modesty  in  the 
male.  For  this  we  must,  in  large  part  at  least,  turn  to  the  other 
great  primary  element  of  modesty,  the  social  factor. 

We  cannot  doubt  that  one  of  the  most  primitive  and  uni- 
versal of  the  social  characteristics  of  man  is  an  aptitude  for 
disgust,  founded,  as  it  is,  on  a  yet  more  primitive  and  animal 
aptitude  for  disgust,  which  has  little  or  no  social  significance. 
In  nearly  all  races,  even  the  most  savage,  we  seem  to  find  distinct 
traces  of  this  aptitude  for  disgust  in  the  presence  of  certain 
actions  of  others,  an  emotion  naturally  reflected  in  the  indi- 
vidual's own  actions,  and  hence  a  guide  to  conduct.  Notwith- 
standing our  gastric  community  of  disgust  with  lower  animals, 
it  is  onlv  in  man  that  this  dis^just  seems  to  become  transformed 
and  developed,  to  possess  a  distinctly  social  character,  and  to 
serve  as  a  guide  to  social  conduct.  The  objects  of  disgust  vary 
infinitely  according  to  the  circumstances  and  habits  of  particular 
races,  but  the  reaction  of  disgust  is  fundamental  throughout. 

The  best  study  of  the  phenomena  of  disgust  known  to  me  is, 
without  doubt,  Professor  Eichet's.^     Pichet  concludes  that  it  is 


^  r.  Tlichet.  "Les  Causes  du  D^goHt."  T/TTomme  ot  rintclligcncc. 
1884.  This  cminont  pliysiologisfs  elaborate  study  of  disgust  was  not 
written  as  a  contribution  to  the  psychology  of  modesty,  but  it  forms 
an  admirable  inlroduction  to  the  investigation  of  the  social  factor  of 
modest  V. 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MODESTY.  31 

the  dangerous  and  the  useless  which  evoke  disgust.  The  digestive 
and  sexual  excretions  and  secretions,  being  either  useless  or,  in 
accordance  with  wide-spread  primitive  ideas,  highly  dangerous, 
the  genito-anal  region  became  a  concentrated  focus  of  disgust.^ 
It  is  for  this  reason,  no  doubt,  that  savage  men  exhibit  modesty, 
not  only  toward  women,  but  toward  their  own  sex,  and  that  so 
many  of  the  lowest  savages  take  great  precautions  in  obtaining 
seclusion  for  the  fulfillment  of  natural  functions.  The  state- 
ment now  so  often  made  that  the  primary  object  of  clothes  is 
to  accentuate  rather  than  to  conceal  has  in  it — as  I  shall  point 
out  later — a  large  element  of  truth,  but  it  is  by  no  means  a 
complete  account  of  the  matter.  It  seems  difficult  not  to  admit 
that,  alongside  the  impulse  to  accentuate  sexual  differences, 
there  is  also  in  both  men  and  women  a  genuine  impulse  to  con- 
cealment among  the  most  primitive  peoples,  and  the  invincible 
repugnance  often  felt  by  savages  to  remove  the  girdle  or  apron 
is  scarcely  accounted  for  by  the  theory  that  it  is  a  sexual  lure. 
In  this  connection  it  seems  to  me  instructive  to  consider  a 
special  form  of  modesty  very  strongly  marked  among  savages 
in  some  parts  of  the  world.  I  refer  to  the  feeling  of  immodesty 
in  eating.  Where  this  feeling  exists,  modesty  is  offended  when 
one  eats  in  public;  the  modest  man  retires  to  eat.  Indecency, 
said  Cook,  was  utterly  unknown  among  the  Tahitians;  but  they 
would  not  eat  together;  even  brothers  and  sisters  had  their 
separate  baskets  of  provisions,  and  generally  sat  some  yards 
apart,  with  their  backs  to   each  other,  when  they  ate.-     The 


'  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  where,  as  among  the  Esquimaux,  urine, 
for  instance,  is  preserved  as  a  highly-valuable  commodity,  the  act  of 
urination,  even  at  table,  is  not  regarded  as  in  the  slightest  degree  dis- 
gusting or  immodest;  Bourke  ("Scatologic  Rites")  mentions  that  it  is 
frequently  the  duty  of  the  host's  daughter  to  attend  the  needs  of  guests 
in  this  respect  during  meals. 

^Crawley  (Journal  of  the  Anthropological  Institute,  May,  1895, 
p.  439)  gives  numerous  other  instances,  even  in  Europe,  with,  however, 
special  reference  to  sexual  taboo.  I  may  remark  that  English  people  of 
lower  class,  especially  women,  are  often  modest  about  eating  in  the 
presence  of  people  of  iiigher  class.  This  feeling  is.  no  doubt,  due,  in  part, 
to  the  consciousness  of  defective  etiquette,  but  that  very  consciousness 
is,  in  part,  a  development  of  the  fear  of  causing  disgust,  which  is  a  com- 
ponent of  modesty. 


32  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

Warrua  of  Central  Africa,  Cameron  found,  when  offered  a  drink, 
put  up  a  cloth  before  their  faces  while  they  swallowed  it,  and 
would  not  allow  anyone  to  see  them  eat  or  drink;  so  that  every 
man  or  woman  must  have  his  own  fire  and  cook  for  himself.^ 
Karl  von  den  Steinen  remarks,  in  his  interesting  book  on  Brazil, 
that,  though  the  Bakairi  of  Central  Brazil  have  no  feeling  of 
shame  about  nakedness,  they  are  ashamed  to  eat  in  public;  they 
retire  to  eat,  and  hung  their  heads  in  shame-faced  confusion 
when  they  saw  him  innocently  eat  in  public.  Hrolf  Vaughan 
Stevens  found  that,  when  he  gave  an  Orang-Laut  (Malay)  woman 
anything  to  eat,  she  not  only  would  not  eat  if  her  husband  were 
present,  but  if  any  man  were  present  she  would  go  outside 
before  eating  or  giving  her  children  to  eat.-  Thus  among  these 
peoples  the  act  of  eating  in  public  produces  the  same  feelings 
as  among  ourselves  the  indecent  exposure  of  the  body  in  public. 

It  is  quite  easy  to  understand  how  this  arises.  Whenever 
there  is  any  pressure  on  the  means  of  subsistence,  as  among 
savages  at  some  time  or  another  there  nearly  always  is,  it  must 
necessarily  arouse  a  profound  emotion  of  anger  and  disgust  to 
see  another  person  putting  into  his  stomach  what  one  might  just 
as  well  have  put  into  one's  own.  The  special  secrecy  sometimes 
observed  by  women  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  women 
would  be  less  able  to  resist  the  emotions  that  the  act  of  eating 
would  arouse  in  onlookers.  As  social  feeling  develops,  a  man 
desires  not  only  to  eat  in  safety,  but  also  to  avoid  being  an 
object  of  disgust,  and  to  spare  his  friends  all  unpleasant  emo- 
tions. Hence  it  becomes  a  requirement  of  ordinary  decency  to 
eat  in  private.  A  man  who  eats  in  public  becomes — like  the 
man  who  in  our  cities  exposes  his  person  in  public — an  object 
of  disgust  and  contempt. 

Long  ago,  when  a  hospital  student  on  midwifery  duty  in 
London  slums,  T  had  occasion  to  observe  that  among  the  women 
of  the  poor,  and  more  especially  in  those  who  had  lost  the  first 
bloom  of  youth,  morlosty  consisted  chiefly  in  the  fear  of  being 


'  Journal  of  iho  Anthropological  Institute,  vol.  vi,  p.  173. 
■^  Stevons,  "Mitthoilungen   aus  dem   Frauonleben   dor   Oranj;   Bolen- 
das,"  Zoitsehrift  fiir  Ktlmologie,  II.  4,  p.  107,  189C. 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MODESTY.  33 

disgusting.  There  was  almost  a  pathetic  anxiety,  in  the  face 
of  pain  and  discomfort,  not  to  be  disgusting  in  the  doctor's 
eyes.  This  anxiety  expressed  itself  in  the  ordinary  symptoms 
of  modesty.  But,  as  soon  as  the  woman  realized  that  I  found 
nothing  disgusting  in  whatever  was  proper  and  necessary  to  be 
done  under  the  circumstances,  it  almost  invariably  happened 
that  every  sign  of  modesty  at  once  disappeared.  In  the  special 
and  elementary  conditions  of  parturition,  modesty  is  reduced  to 
this  one  fear  of  causing  disgust;  so  that,  when  that  is  negated, 
the  emotion  is  non-existent,  and  the  subject  becomes,  without 
effort,  as  direct  and  natural  as  a  little  child.  A  fellow-student 
on  similar  duty,  who  also  discovered  for  himself  the  same  char- 
acter of  modesty — that  if  he  was  careful  to  guard  her  modesty 
the  woman  was  careful  also,  and  that  if  he  was  not  the  woman 
was  not — remarked  on  it  to  me  with  sadness;  it  seemed  to  him 
derogatory  to  womanhood  that  what  he  had  been  accustomed 
to  consider  its  supreme  grace  should  be  so  superficial  that  he 
could  at  will  set  limits  to  it.^    I  thought  then,  as  I  think  still, 


^  We  neither  of  us  knew  that  we  had  merely  made  afresh  a  very 
ancient  discovery.  Casanova,  a  century  ago,  quoted  the  remark  of  a 
friend  of  his,  that  the  easiest  way  to  overcome  the  modesty  of  a  Avoman 
is  to  suppose  it  non-existent;  and  he  adds  a  saying,  which  he  attributes 
to  Clement  of  Alexandria,  that  modesty,  which  seems  so  much  more 
deeply  rooted  in  women,  only  resides  in  the  linen  that  covers  them,  and 
vanishes  when  it  vanishes.  The  passage  to  which  Casanova  referred  oc- 
curs in  the  "Paedagogus,"  and  has  already  been  quoted.  The  same 
observation  seems  to  have  appealed  strongly  to  the  Fathers,  always 
glad  to  make  a  point  against  women,  and  I  have  met  with  it  in  Cyprian's 
"De  Habitu  Feminarum."  It  also  ocgurs  in  Jerome's  treatise  against 
Jovinian.  Jerome,  with  more  scholarly  instinct,  rightly  presents  the 
remark  as  a  quotation:  "Scrihit  Herodotus  quod  mulier  cum  vcste 
deponat  et  verecnndiam."  In  Herodotus  the  saying  is  attributed  to 
Gyges  (Book  I,  Chapter  VIII).  We  may  thus  trace  very  far  back  into 
antiquity  an  observation  which  in  English  has  received  its  classical  ex- 
pression from  Chaucer,  who  in  his  "Wife  of  Bath's  Prologue"  has:  — 

"He  sayde,  a  woman  cast  hir  shame  away, 
When  she  cast  of  hir  smok." 

I  need  not  point  out  that  the  analysis  of  modesty  offered  above 
robs  this  venerable  saying  of  any  sting  it  may  have  possessed  as  a  slur 
upon  women.  In  such  a  case  modesty  is  largely  a  doubt  as  to  the  spec- 
tator's attitude,  and  necessarily  disappears  when  that  doubt  is  satisfac- 
torily resolved.  As  we  have  seen,  the  Central  Australian  maidens  were 
very  modest  with  regard  to  the  removal  of  their  single  garment,  but 
Avhen  that  removal  was  accomplished  and  accepted  they  were  fearless. 

3 


34  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

that  that  was  rather  a  perversion  of  the  matter,  and  that  noth- 
ing becomes  degrading  because  we  happen  to  have  learned  some- 
thing about  its  operations.  But  I  am  more  convinced  than  ever 
that  the  fear  of  causing  disgust — a  fear  quite  distinct  from  that 
of  losing  a  sexual  lure  or  .breaking  a  rule  of  social  etiquette — 
plays  a  very  large  part  in  the  modesty  of  the  more  modest  sex, 
and  in  modestv  o^enerallv.  Our  Yenuses,  as  Lucretius  lono^  since 
remarked  and  Montaigne  after  him,  are  careful  to  conceal  from 
their  lovers  the  viice  postscenia,  and  that  fantastic  fate  which 
placed  so  near  together  the  supreme  foci  of  physical  attraction 
and  ph3'sical  repugnance  has  immensely  contributed  to  build  up 
all  the  subtlest  coquetries  of  courtship.  Whatever  stimulates 
self-confidence  and  lulls  the  fear  of  evoking  disgust — whether 
it  is  the  presence  of  a  beloved  person  in  whose  good  opinion 
complete  confidence  is  felt,  or  whether  it  is  merely  the  grosser 
narcotizing  influence  of  a  slight  degree  of  intoxication — always 
automatically  lulls  the  emotion  of  modesty.^  Together  with  the 
animal  factor  of  sexual  refusal,  this  social  fear  of  evoking  dis- 
gust seems  to  me  the  most  fundamental  element  in  modesty. 

It  i?,  of  course,  impossible  to  argue  that  the  fact  of  the 
sacro-pubic  region  of  the  body  being  the  chief  focus  of  conceal- 
ment proves  the  importance  of  this  factor  of  modesty.  But  it 
may  fairly  be  argued  that  it  owes  this  position  not  merely  to 
being  the  sexual  centre,  but  also  as  being  the  excretory  centre. 
Even  among  many  lower  mammals,  as  well  as  among  birds  and 
insects,  there  is  a  well-marked  horror  of  dirt,  somewhat  dis- 
guised by  the  varying  wa3's  in  which  an  animal  may  be  said  to 
define  "dirt."  Many  animals  spend  more  time  and  energy  in 
the  duties  of  cleanliness  than  human  beings,  and  they  often 
show  well-marked  anxiety  to  remove  their  own  excrement,  or 
to  keep  away  from  it.-  Thus  this  element  of  modesty  also  may 
be  said  to  have  an  animnl  basis. 


*  Tlio  same  result  occurs  more  markedly  under  the  deadening:  influ- 
ence of  insanity.  Griinaldi  ("Tl  "Nranicoinio '^Foderno,"  1888)  found  that 
modesty  is  lacking  in  oO  por  cent,  of  the  insane. 

-  For  some  facts  bearinp:  on  this  point,  see  Houssay,  "Industries  of 
Animals."  Chaiiter  VTT.  "The  Defence  and  Sanitation  of  Dwellings";  also 
P.  Ballion,  "I)e  I'lnstinct  de  Projjreti'   chez  les  Animau.x." 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MODESTY.  35 

It  is  on  this  animal  basis  that  the  human  and  social  fear  of 
arousing  disgust  has  developed.  Its  probably  wide  extension  is 
indicated  not  only  by  the  strong  feeling  attached  to  the  constant 
presence  of  clothing  on  this  part  of  the  body — such  constant 
presence  being  quite  uncalled  for  if  the  garment  or  ornament 
is  merely  a  sort  of  sexual  war-paint — but  by  the  repugnance 
felt  by  many  savages  very  low  down  in  the  scale  to  the  public 
satisfaction  of  natural  needs,  and  to  their  more  than  civilized 
cleanliness  in  this  connection;^  it  is  further  of  interest  to  note 
that  in  some  parts  of  the  world  the  covering  is  not  in  front, 
but  behind;  though  of  this  fact  there  are  probably  other  ex- 
planations. x\.mong  civilized  people,  also,  it  may  be  added,  the 
final  and  invincible  seat  of  modesty  is  not  always  around  the 
pubes,  but  the  anus;  that  is  to  say,  that  in  such  cases  the  fear 
of  arousing  disgust  is  the  ultimate  and  most  fundamental  ele- 
ment of  modesty.^ 

Another  factor  of  modesty,  which  reaches  a  high  develop- 
ment even  in  savagery,  is  the  ritual  element,  especially  the  idea 
of  ceremonial  uncleanliness.  It  may  be,  to  some  extent,  rooted 
in  the  elements  alread}^  referred  to,  and  it  leads  us  into  a  much 
wider  field  than  that  of  modesty;  so  that  it  is  only  necessary 
to  mention  it  here.  Eitual  tends  to  crystallize  around  any  act 
of  life  on  which  men  expend  deliberate  attention,  and  the  duties 
of  modesty  among  savages  are  a  sufficiently  serious  part  of  life 
to  constitute  a  nucleus  for  ritual.  No  doubt,  offences  against 
ritual  may  be  regarded  as  more  serious  than  offences  against 
modesty;   but  they  are  so  obviously  allied  in  early  culture  that 


^Tliiis,  Stevens  mentions  (Zeitschrift  fiir  Ethnologie,  p.  182,  1897) 
that  the  Dyaks  of  Malacca  always  wash  the  sexual  organs  even  after 
urination,  and  are  careful  to  use  the  left  hand  in  doing  so.  The  left 
hand  is  reserved  for  such  uses  among'  the  Jekris  of  the  Niger  coast  also 
(Journal  of  the  Anthropological  Institute,  p.  122,  1898;. 

^  Lombroso  and  Ferrero — who  adopt  the  derivation  of  piidor  from 
piitcre;  i.e.,  from  the  repugnance  caused  by  the  decomposition  of  the 
vaginal  secretions — consider  that  the  fear  of  causing  disgust  to  men  is 
the  sole  origin  of  modes. y  among  savage  women,  as  also  it  remains  the 
sole  form  of  modesty  among  prostitutes  to-day.  ("La  Donna  Delinquente/' 
p.  540.)  Important  as  this  factor  is  in  the  constitution  of  the  emotion 
of  modesty,  I  need  scarcely  add  that  I  regard  this  exclusive  theory  as 
altogether   untenable. 


36  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

the  one  reinforces  the  other,  and  they  cannot  be  easily  disen- 
tangled. All  savage  and  barbarous  peoples  who  have  attained 
any  high  degree  of  ceremonialism  have  included  the  functions 
of  sex  and  of  excretion  more  or  less  stringently  within  the  bounds 
of  that  ceremonialism.  It  is  only  necessary  to  refer  to  the 
Jewish  ritual  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  to  Hesoid,  and  to 
the  customs  prevalent  among  Mohammedan  peoples. 

At  an  early  stage  of  culture,  again,  menstruation  is  re- 
garded as  a  process  of  purification,  a  dangerous  expulsion  of 
vitiated  humors.  Hence  the  term  katharsis  applied  to  it  by 
the  Greeks.  Hence  also  the  mediaeval  view  of  women:  ^'Mulier 
speciosa  templum  cedificatuni  super  cJoacajn/'  said  Boethius.  The 
sacro-pubic  region  in  women,  because  it  includes  the  source  of 
menstruation,  thus  becomes  a  specially  heightened  seat  of  taboo. ^ 
According  to  the  Mosaic  law  (Leviticus,  Chapter  XX,  v.  18),  if 
a  man  uncovered  a  menstruating  w^oman,  both  were  to  be  cut  off. 

It  is  probable  that  the  Mohammedan  custom  of  veiling  the 
face  really  has  its  source  solely  in  another  aspect  of  this  ritual 
factor  of  modesty.  It  must  be  remembered  that  this  custom  is 
not  Mohammedan  in  its  origin,  since  it  existed  long  previously 
among  the  Arabians,  and  is  described  by  Tertullian.-  In  early 
Arabia  very  handsome  men  also  veiled  their  faces,  in  order  to 
preserve  themselves  from  the  evil  eye,  and  it  has  been  conject- 
ured with  much  probability  that  the  origin  of  the  custom  of 
women  veiling  their  faces  may  be  traced  to  this  ritual  precau- 
tion.^ 

So  far  it  has  only  been  necessary  to  refer  incidentally  to 
the  connection  of  mode^tv  with  clothing.     I  have  souo'ht  to  cm- 


'  Durkheim  ("La  Proliibition  de  I'lnceste,"  L'Anni'e  Sociolofrique, 
p.  50,  1898),  arguin;^  that  wliatevor  sense  -of  repiij^nance  women  may 
inspire  must  necessarily  reach  tlie  liifjhest  point  around  tlie  womb.  Vliich 
is  hence  subjected  to  the  most  strinfjent  taboo,  incidentally  su^cfgests 
that  here  is  an  ori/^in  of  modesty.  "Tlie  sexual  organs  must  be  veiled 
at  an  early  jjeriod  to  prevent  the  danjierous  ellluvia  which  they  fjive  oil" 
from  reacliinfi:  the  environment.  1'he  veil  is  often  a  method  of  inter- 
cepting^ maffic  action.  Once  constituted,  the  practice  would  be  main- 
tained and  transformed." 

-Tertullian.  "De  Virj^inibus  Velandis."  cap.  17. 

MVellliauscn.  "Kcste  Arabischcn  lleidentums,"  p.   1!)(». 


THE    EYOLL'TIOX    OF    MODESTY.  37 

phasize  the  unquestionable,  but  often  forgotten,  fact  that  mod- 
esty is  in  its  origins  independent  of  clothing,  that  physiological 
modesty  takes  precedence  of  anatomical  modesty,  and  that  the 
primary  factors  of  modesty  were  certainly  developed  long  before 
the  discovery  of  either  ornament  or  garments.  The  rise  of 
clothing  probably  had  its  first  psychical  basis  on  an  emotion  of 
modesty  already  compositely  formed  of  the  elements  we  have 
traced/  Both  the  main  elementary  factors,  it  must  be  noted, 
must  naturally  tend  to  develop  and  unite  in  a  more  complex, 
though — it  may  well  be — much  less  intense,  emotion.  The  im- 
pulse which  leads  the  female  animal,  as  it  leads  some  African 
women,  when  found  without  their  girdles,  to  squat  firmly  down 
on  the  earth,  becomes  a  more  refined  and  extended  play  of  gest- 
ure and  ornament  and  garment.  A  very  notable  advance,  1  may 
remark,  is  made  when  this  primary  attitude  of  defence  against 
the  action  of  the  male  becomes  a  defence  ao^ainst  his  eves.  We 
may  thus  explain  the  spread  of  modesty  to  various  parts  of  the 
body,  even  when  we  exclude  the  more  special  influence  of  the 
evil  eye.  The  breasts  very  early  become  a  focus  of  modesty  in 
women;  this  may  be  observed  among  many  naked  or  nearly 
naked  negro  races;  the  tendency  of  the  nates  to  become  the 
chief  seat  of  modesty  in  many  parts  of  Africa  may  probably  be 
thus  explained,  since  the  full  development  of  the  gluteal  regions 
is  often  the  greatest  attraction  an  African  woman  can  possess.^ 
The  same  cause  contributes,  doubtless,  to  the  face  becoming, 


^  It  is  possible,  as  some  ethnographists  have  observed  ie.fj..  Letoiir- 
neau,  "I'Evolution  de  la  Morale,"  p.  146),  that  intercrural  cords  and 
other  primitive  garments  have  a  physical  ground,  inasmuch  as  they  pro- 
tect the  most  sensitive  and  unprotected  part  of  the  body,  especially  in 
women.  We  may  note  in  this  connection  the  significant  remarks  of 
Iv.  von  den  Steinen,  who  argues  that  among  Brazilian  tribes  the  object 
of  the  uluri.  etc.,  is  to  obtain  a  maximum  of  protection  for  the  mucous 
membrane  with  a  minimum  of  concealment.  Among  the  Esquimaux,  as 
Xansen  noted,  the  corresponding  intercrural  cord  is  so  thin  as  to  be  often 
practically  invisible:  this  may  be  noted.  I  may  add.  in  the  excellent 
photographs  of  Esquimau  women  given  by  Holm. 

-  In  Moruland  Emin  Bey  remarked  that  women  are  mostly  naked, 
but  some  wear  a  girdle  with  a  few  leaves  hanging  behind.  The  women 
of  some  negro  tribes,  who  thus  cover  themselves  behind,  if  deprived  of 
this  sole  covering,  immediately  throw  themselves  on  the  ground  on  their 
backs,  in  order  to  hide  their  nakedness. 


38  PSYCHOLOGY   OF    SEX. 

in  some  races,  the  centre  of  modesty.  We  see  the  influence  of 
this  defence  against  strange  eyes  in  the  special  precautions  in 
gesture  or  clothing  taken  by  the  women  in  various  parts  of  the 
world  against  the  more  offensive  eyes  of  civilized  Europeans. 

But  in  thus  becoming  directed  merely  against  sight,  and 
not  against  action,  the  gestures  of  modesty  are  at  once  free  to 
become  merely  those  of  coquetry.  When  there  is  no  real 
danger  of  offensive  action,  there  is  no  need  for  more  than  play- 
ful defence,  and  no  serious  anxiety  should  that  defence  be  taken 
as  a  disguised  invitation.  Thus  the  road  is  at  once  fully  open 
toward  the  most  civilized  manifestations  of  the  comedy  of  court- 
ship. 

In  the  same  way  the  social  fear  of  arousing  disgust  com- 
bines easily  and  joerfectly  with  any  new  development  in  the  in- 
vention of  ornament  or  clothing  as  sexual  lures.  Even  among 
the  most  civilized  races  it  has  often  been  noted  that  the  fashion 
of  feminine  garments  (as  also  sometimes  the  use  of  scents)  has 
the  double  object  of  concealing  and  attracting.  It  is  so  with 
the  little  apron  of  the  young  savage  belle.  The  heightening  of 
the  attraction  is,  indeed,  a  logical  outcome  of  the  fear  of  evoking 
disgust. 

The  contention  of  Westermarck,  that  ornament  and  cloth- 
ing are  in  large  part  due  to  the  desire  to  give,  not  concealment, 
but  prominence,  to  the  sexual  organs,  and  that  modesty  is  a 
result,  rather  than  a  cause,  of  the  use  of  clothes,  may  certainly 
be  accepted,  so  long  as  we  realize  that  it  is  not  the  whole  of  the 
truth,  and  that  it  is  far  from  offering  a  complete  explanation  of 
the  phenomena  of  modesty. 

It  does,  howcvor,  undoubtocUy  rest  on  a  psychic  basis.  Among 
some  Australian  tribes  it  is  said  that  the  sexual  organs  are  only  covered 
during  tlioir  erotic  dances;  and  it  is  further  said  that  in  some  parts 
of  the  world  only  prostitutes  are  clothed.  "The  scanty  covering,"  as 
Westermarck  observes,  "was  found  to  act  as  the  most  powerful  obtain- 
able sexual  stimulus.  Hence  the  ])opularity  of  such  garments  in  the 
savage  world."  It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  this  statement  may  be  made 
not  merely  of  the  savage,  but  of  the  most  (ivili/ed  world.  Dr.  R.  W. 
Felkin  remarks,  concerning  Central  Africa,  ilial  lie  nowhere  met  with 
more  indecency  than  in  Uganda,  where  the  junalty  of  death  is  inflicted 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MODESTY.  39 

on  an  adult  found  naked  in  the  street.  {E(Unhur<jU  Medical  Jourunl, 
April,  1884.)  Nakedness  is  always  chaster  in  its  effects  than  partial 
clothing.  A  study  of  pictures  or  statuary  will  alone  serve  to  demonstrate 
this.  As  a  well-known  artist,  Du  Maurier,  has  remarked  (in  "Trilby"),  it 
is  "a  fact  well  known  to  all  painters  and  sculptors  who  have  used  the 
nude  model  (except  a  few  shady  pretenders,  whose  purity,  not  being  of 
the  right  sort,  has  gone  rank  from  too  much  watching)  that  nothing 
is  so  chaste  as  nudity.  Venus  herself,  as  she  drops  her  garments  and 
steps  on  to  the  model-throne,  leaves  behind  her  on  the  floor  every 
weapon  in  her  armory  by  which  she  can  pierce  to  the  grosser  passions 
of  men."  Burton,  in  the  "Anatomy  of  Melancholy"  (Part  III,  Sect,  II, 
Subsect.  3),  deals  at  length  wuth  the  "Allurements  of  Love,"  and  con- 
cludes that  "the  greatest  provocations  of  lust  are  from  our  apparel."  A 
friend  points  out  to  me  that  an  admirable  poetic  rendering  of  this 
element  in  the  philosophy  of  clothing  has  been  given  by  Herrick,  in  "The 
Lily  in  a  Crystal."  The  artist's  model  is  less  exposed  to  liberties  from 
men  when  nude  than  when  she  is  partially  clothed.  This  impulse,  in 
the  presence  of  attempts  at  apparent  concealment,  is  founded  on  the 
fundamental  attitude  of  the  sexes  toward  each  other.  In  this  connection, 
also,  it  is  worth  noting  that  Stanley  Hall,  in  a  report  based  on  returns 
from  nearly  a  thousand  persons,  mostly  teachers  ("The  Early  Sense  of 
Self,"  American  Journal  of  Psychology,  p.  366,  1898),  finds  that  of  the 
three  functions  of  clothes — protection,  ornament,  and  Lotzean  "self- 
feeling" — the  second  is  by  far  the  most  conspicuous  in  childhood.  The 
attitude  of  children  is  testimony  to  the  primitive  attitude  toward 
clothing. 

The  great  artistic  elaboration  often  displayed  by  articles  of 
ornament  or  clothing,  even  when  very  small,  and  the  fact — as 
shown  by  Karl  von  den  Steinen  regarding  the  Brazilian  uluri 
— that  they  may  serve  as  common  motives  in  general  decoration, 
sufficiently  prove  that  such  objects  attract  rather  than  avoid 
attention.  And  while  there  is  an  invincible  repugnance  among 
some  peoples  to  remove  these  articles,  such  repugnance  being 
often  strongest  when  the  adornment  is  most  minute,  others  have 
no  such  repugnance  or  are  quite  indifferent  w^hether  or  not  their 
aprons  are  accurately  adjusted.  The  mere  presence  or  posses- 
sion of  the  article  gives  the  required  sense  of  self-respect,  of 
human  dignity,  of  sexual  desirability.  Thus  it  is  that  to  un- 
clothe a  person  is  to  humiliate  him;  this  was  so  even  in  Ho- 
meric times,  for  we  may  recall  the  threat  of  Ulysses  to  strip  Thy- 


40  PSYCHOLOGY    OP    SEX. 

estes.^  "When  a  civilized  European  woman  is  naked  in  the 
presence  of  others,  her  fundamental  feeling  seems  usually  to 
be,  not  "I  am  ashamed  because  I  am  naked,"  but  ^'I  am  ashamed 
because  I  am  unadorned.''  She  feels,  not  that  she  is  revealing 
her  beauty,  but  that  she  is  revealing  herself  deprived  of  her 
weapons  of  seduction.  On  the  whole,  all  the  motives  already 
noted  combine  to  concentrate  modesty  on  the  garment. 

When  clothing  is  once  established,  another  element,  this 
time  a  social-economic  element,  often  comes  in  to  emphasize  its 
importance  and  increase  the  anatomical  modesty  of  women.  I 
mean  the  growth  of  the  conception  of  women  as  property. 
Waitz,  followed  bv  Schurtz  and  Letourneau,  has  insisted  that 
the  jealousy  of  husbands  is  the  primary  origin  of  clothing,  and, 
indirectly,  of  modesty.  Diderot  in  the  last  century  had  already 
given  clear  expression  to  the  same  view.  It  is  undoubtedly  true 
that  married  women  are  often  alone  or  chiefly  clothed,  and  that 
the  unmarried  women,  though  full  grown,  remain  naked.  In 
many  parts  of  the  world,  also,  as  Mantegazza  and  others  have 
shown,  where  the  men  are  naked  and  the  women  covered,  cloth- 
ing is  regarded  as  a  sort  of  disgrace,  and  men  can  only  with  diffi- 
culty be  persuaded  to  adopt  it.  Before  marriage  a  woman  was 
often  free,  and  not  bound  to  chastit}',  and  at  the  same  time  was 
often  naked;  after  marriage,  she  was  clothed,  and  no  longer 
free.  To  the  husband's  mind,  the  garment  appears — illogically, 
though  naturally — a  moral  and  physical  protection  against  any 
attack  on  his  property.  Thus  a  new  motive  was  furnished,  this 
time  somewhat  artificially,  for  making  nakedness,  in  women  at 
all  events,  disgraceful.  As  the  conception  of  property  also  ex- 
tended to  the  father's  right  over  his  daughters,  and  the  apprecia- 
tion of  female  chastity  developed,  this  motive  spread  to  un- 
married as  well  as  married  women.  It  probably  constituted  th« 
chief  element  furnished  to  the  complex  emotion  of  modesty  by 
the  barbarous  stages  of  liuman  civilization.^ 


1  "1 


'Iliad,"  II,  202.     Waitz  gives  instances   ("Anthropology,"  p.  301) 
showing  that  nakedness  is  sometimes  a  mark  of  submission. 

-The  Celtie  raees.  in  their  days  of  developed  barbarism,  seem   to 
have    been    peculiarly    free    from    the    idea    of    ])ro])rietorship    in    women. 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MODESTY.  41 

This  economic  factor  necessarily  involved  the  introduction  of  a  new 
moral  element  into  modesty.  If  a  woman's  chastity  is  the  property  of 
another  person,  it  is  essential  that  a  woman  shall  be  modest  in  order 
that  men  may  not  be  tempted  to  incur  the  penalties  involved  by  the 
infringement  of  property  rights.  Thus  modesty  is  strictly  inculcated 
on  women  in  order  that  men  may  be  safeguarded  from  temptation.  Im- 
modesty being,  on  this  ground,  disapproved  by  men,  a  new  motive  for 
modesty  is  furnished  to  women.  In  the  book  which  the  Knight  of  the 
Tower,  X.andry,  wrote  in  the  fourteenth  century  for  the  instruction  of 
his  daughters,  this  factor  of  modesty  is  naively  revealed.  He  tells  his 
daughters  of  the  trouble  that  David  got  into  through  the  thoughtlessness 
of  Bathsheba,  and  warns  them  that  "every  woman  ought  religiously  to 
conceal  herself  when  dressing  and  washing,  and  neither  out  of  vanity 
nor  yet  to  attract  attention  show  either  her  hair,  or  her  neck,  or  her 
breast,  or  any  part  which  ought  to  be  covered."  Hinton  went  so  far  as 
to  regard  what  he  termed  "body  modesty"  as  entirely  a  custom  imposed 
upon  women  by  men  with  the  object  of  preserving  their  own  virtue. 
While  this  motive  is  far  from  being  the  sole  source  of  modesty,  it  must 
certainly  be  borne  in  mind  as  an  inevitable  outcome  of  the  economic 
factor  of  modesty. 

The   cliief  new   feature — it   is   scarcely   a   new   element — 

•J 

added  to  modesty  when  an  advanced  civilization  slow'ly  emerges 
from  barbarism  is  the  elaboration  of  its  social  ritnal.  Civiliza- 
tion expands  the  range  of  modesty,  and  renders  it,  at  the  same 
time,  more  changeable.  The  French  seventeenth  century  and 
the  English  eighteenth  represent  early  stages' of  modern  Euro- 
pean civilization,  and  they  both  devoted  special  attention  to.  the 
elaboration  of  the  minute  details  of  modesty.  The  frequenters 
of  the  Hotel  Eambouillet,  the  precieuses  satirized  by  Moliere, 
were  not  only  engaged  in  refining  the  language;  they  were  re- 
fining   feelings    and    ideas    and    enlarging    the    boundaries    of 


Their  women  were  highly  honored,  and,  moreover  (as  represented  in  the 
Celtic  poems) .  they  usually  took  the  initiative  in  matters  of  love.  In 
French  lyrical  poetry  of  the  twelfth  century,  largely  infused  by  the 
Celtic  spirit,  Dowden  remarks  that  "love  was  an  affair  for  the  woman; 
it  was  she  alone  who  made  a  confession  of  the  heart"  (Dowden,  "History 
of  French  Literature."  p.  25).  In  view  of  what  has  been  said  above  as 
to  the  predominance  of  the  social-economic  factor  of  modesty  during 
barbarous  periods  of  civilization,  it  is  thus  mteresting  to  note  that  it  was 
probably  among  the  Irish,  always  distinguished  by  tenacious  adherence 
to  the  spirit  of  racial  and  national  customs,  that  the  habit  of  nakedness 
was  longest  preserved  among  the  upper  social  classes  in  Western  Europe. 


42  PSYCHOLOGY   OF    SEX. 

modesty.  In  England  such  famous  and  popular  authors  as 
Swift  and  Sterne  bear  witness  to  a  new  ardor  of  modesty  in  the 
sudden  reticences,  the  dashes,  and  the  asterisks  which  are  found 
throughout  their  works.  The  altogether  new  quality  of  liter- 
ary prurience,  of  which  Sterne  is  still  the  classical  example, 
could  only  have  arisen  on  the  basis  of  the  new  modesty  which 
was  then  overspreading  society  and  literature.  Idle  people, 
mostly,  no  doubt,  the  women  in  salons  and  drawing-rooms, 
people  more  familiar  with  books  than  with  the  realities  of  life, 
now  laid  down  the  rules  of  modesty,  and  were  ever  enlarging  it, 
ever  inventing  new  subtleties  of  gesture  and  speech,  which  it 
would  be  immodest  to  neglect,  and  which  are  €ver  being  rendered 
vulgar  by  use  and  ever  changing. 

It  -was  at  this  time,  probably,  that  the  custom  of  inventing  an  arbi- 
trary private  vocabulary  of  words  and  phrases  for  the  purpose  of  disguis- 
ing references  to  functions  and  parts  of  the  body  regarded  as  immodest 
and  indecent  first  began  to  become  common.  (Vocabularies  of  this  kind 
are,  however,  found  even  among  savages.  Thus  Zache  [Zcitschrift  fiir 
Ethnologic,  p.  213,  1899],  states  that  the  Swahili  women  of  Africa  have 
a  private  metaphorical  language  referring  to  sexual  matters.)  Such  pri- 
vate slang,  growing  up  independently  in  families,  and  especially  among 
women,  as  well  as  between  lovers,  is  now  almost  universal.  It  is  not 
confined  to  any  European  country,  and  has  been  studied  in  Italy  by 
Niceforo  ("II  Gergo,"  1897,  cap.  1  and  2),  who  regards  it  as  a  weapon  of 
social  defence  against  an  inquisitive  or  hostile  environment,  since  it  en- 
ables tilings  to  be  said  with  a  meaning  wliicli  is  unintelligible  to  all  but 
the  initiated  person.  While  it  is  quite  true  that  the  custom  is  supported 
by  the  consciousness  of  its  practical  advantages,  it  has  its  primary  source 
in  an  almost  instinctive  desire  to  avoid  what  is  felt  to  be  the  vulgar 
immodesty  of  direct  speech.  This  is  sufficiently  shown  by  the  fact  that 
such  slang  is  chiefly  concerned  with  tlie  sacro-pubic  sphere.  It  is  one  of 
the  chief  contributions  to  the  phenomena  of  modesty  furnished  by 
civilization.  The  claims  of  modesty  having  effected  the  clothing  of  the 
body,  the  impulse  of  modesty  finds  a  further  sphere  of  activity — half- 
playful,  yet  wholly  imjicrativo — in  the  clothing  of  language. 

It  would,  however,  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  this  process 
is  an  intensification  of  modesty.  It  is,  on  the  contrary,  an  atten- 
uation of  it.  The  observances  of  modesty  become  merely  a  part 
of  a  vast  body  of  rules  of  social  etiquette,  though  a  somewhat 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MODESTY.  43 

stringent  part,  on  account  of  the  vague  sense  still  persisting  of 
a  deep-lying  natural  basis. 

Modesty  thus  conies  to  have  the  force  of  a  tradition,  a  vague, 
but  massive,  force,  bearing  with  special  power  on  those  who 
cannot  reason.  It  lias  become  mainly  transformed  into  the  al- 
lied emotion  of  decency,  which  has  been  described  as  "modesty 
fossilized  into  social  customs."  The  whole  emotion  has  been 
devitalized,  and  yields  more  readily  than  in  its  primitive  state 
to  any  attack  supported  by  a  sufficienth^-strong  motive.  Even 
fashion  in  the  more  civilized  countries  can  easily  inhibit  ana- 
tomical modest}^,  and  rapidly  exhibit  or  accentuate,  in  turn, 
almost  any  part  of  the  body.  But  the  savage  Indian  woman  of 
America,  the  barbarous  woman  of  some  Mohammedan  countries, 
can  scarcely  sacrifice  her  modesty  in  the  pangs  of  childbirth. 
Even  when,  among  uncivilized  races,  the  focus  of  modesty  may 
be  said  to  be  eccentric  and  arbitrar}',  it  still  remains  very  rigid. 
In  such  savage  and  barbarous  countries  modesty  possesses  the 
strength  of  a  genuine  and  irresistible  instinct.  In  civilized 
countries  anyone  who  places  considerations  of  modesty  before 
the  claims  of  some  real  human  need  excites  ridicule  and  con- 
tempt. 

It  is,  however,  impossible  to  contemplate  this  series  of  phe- 
nomena, so  radically  persistent,  whatever  its  changes  of  form, 
and  so  constant  throughout  every  stage  of  civilization,  without 
feeling  that,  although  modesty  cannot  properly  be  called  an 
instinct,  there  must  be  some  physiological  basis  to  support  it. 
Undoubtedly  such  a  basis  is  formed  by  that  vasomotor  mech- 
anism of  which  the  most  obAdous  outward  sign  is,  in  human 
beings,  the  blush. ^     All  the  allied  emotional  forms  of  fear — 


^  The  blush  is,  indeed,  only  a  part,  almost  perhaps  an  accidental 
part,  of  the  organic  turmoil  with  -vvhich  it  is  associated.  Partridge,  who 
has  studied  the  phenomena  of  blushing  in  one  hundred  and  twenty  cases 
(Pedagogical  Seminary,  April,  1897),  finds  that  the  following  are  the  chief 
general  symptoms:  Tremors  near  the  waist,  weakness  in  the  limbs,  press- 
ure, tremblino:.  warmth,  weight  or  beating  in  the  chest,  warm  wave  from 
feet  upward,  quivering  of  heart,  stoppage  and  then  rapid  beating  of  heart, 
coldness  all  over  followed  by  heat,  dizziness,  tingling  of  toes  and  fingers, 
numbness,  something  rising  in  throat,  smarting  of  eyes,  singing  of  ears, 
prickling  sensations  of  face,  and  pressure  inside  head. 


4-i  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

shame,  bashfulness,  timidity — are  to  some  extent  upheld  by  this 
mechanism,  bnt  such  is  especially  the  case  with  the  emotion  wc 
are  now  concerned  Avith.  The  blush  is  the  sanction  of  modest  v. 
When  the  Brazilian  offered  Karl  von  den  Steinen  some  food, 
which  he  ate  immediately  in  public  the  Brazilian  hung  his  head. 
"Whether  or  not  he  blushed,  he  was  certainly  conscious  of  that 
capillary  turmoil  of  the  face,  of  which  the  shock  of  offended 
modesty  is  the  cause  and  blushins:  the  most  visible  sisfn.^  It 
is  scarcely  an  accident  that,  as  has  been  often  observed,  criminals, 
or  the  antisocial  element  of  the  community, — whether  by  the 
habits  of  their  lives  or  by  congenital  abnormality, — blush  less 
easily  than  normal  persons.-  The  importance  of  the  blush,  and 
the  emotional  confusion  behind  it  as  the  sources  of  modesty  is 
shown  by  the  significant  fact  that  by  skillfully  lulling  emotional 
confusion  it  is  possible  to  inhibit  the  sense  of  modesty  itself. 
In  other  words,  it  may  be  said  that  we  are  here  in  the  presence 
of  a  fear — to  a  large  extent,  a  sex-fear — impelling  to  conceal- 
ment, and  this  emotion  naturally  disappears,  even  though  its 
ostensible  cause  remains,  when  it  is  apparent  that  there  is  no 
cause  for  fear.^     Thus,  it  is,  to  some  extent  at  least,  true  that 


^  With  regard  to  the  phenomena  of  blushing  among  different  races, 
see  Waitz,  "Anthropologic  der  Xaturvolker."  B.  1.  pp.  149-150.  Since 
this  study  was  written  I  nave  read  Melinand's  excellent  article  on  the 
psychological  cause  of  blushing  ("Pourquoi  Rougit-on?"  Revue  des  Deux 
;Mondes,  1  Octobre.  1893).  This  author  points  out  that  blushing  is 
always  associated  with  fear,  and  indicates,  in  the  various  conditions 
under  which  it  may  arise. — modesty.  pii(Unn\  timidity,  confusion, — that 
we  have  something  to  conceal  which  we  fear  mav  be  discover^^d. 

-Kroner  (Das  korperliche  Gefiihl,"  1887.  p.  130)  remarks:  "The 
origin  of  a  specific  connection  between  shame  and  blushing  is  the  work 
of  a  social  selection.  It  is  certainly  an  immediate  advantage  for  a  man 
not  to  blush ;  indirectly,  however,  it  is  a  disadvantage  because  in  other 
ways  he  will  be  known  as  shameless,  and  on  that  account,  as  a  rule,  he 
will.be  shut  out  from  propagation.  This  social  selection  \\\\\  be  specially 
exercised  on  the  female  sex.  and  on  this  account  women  blush  to  a 
greater  extent,  and  more  readily,  than  men." 

^  The  same  result  is  attained  when  the  con-^cioii^ness  of  nakedness 
is  accom])anied  by  a  consciousness  of  perfect  propriety,  as  well  in  the 
naked  person  as  in  the  by-stander.  A  pupil  of  Ingres  tells  that  a  female 
model  was  once  quietly  posing.  com])h'tely  nude,  at  the  Ecole  des  Beaux 
Arts.  Suddenly  she  screamed,  and  ran  to  cover  herself  with  her  gar- 
ments. She  had  seen  the  head  of  a  workman  on  the  roof  gazing  inquisi- 
tively at  her  through  a  sky-light.  The  modesty  of  men  is  also  very  sen- 
sitive to  any  such   inquisitivcncss  on  the  part  of  the  opposite  sex.     To 


THE  EVOLUTIOX  OF  MODESTY.  45 

people  are  modest  because  they  blush  or  because  they  feel  the 
possibility  of  blushing,  rather  than  that  they  blush  because 
they  are  modest.  In  the  same  way  we  may  explain  the  curious 
influence  of  darkness  in  restraining  the  manifestations  of  mod- 
esty, as  many  lovers  have  discovered,  and  as  we  may  notice  in 
our  cities  after  dark;  it  is  true  that  the  immodesty  of  a  city 
like  London  at  night  is  largely  explained  by  the  prevalence  of 
prostitution  at  this  time;  prostitutes,  being  habitually  nearer 
to  the  threshold  of  immodest}^  are  more  markedly  affected  by 
an  influence  to  w^hich  most  women,  at  all  events,  are  to  some 
extent  susceptible/  It  is  curious  to  note  that  short-sighted- 
ness, as  well  as  blindness,  naturally,  though  illogically,  tends  to 
exert  the  same  influence  as  darkness  in  this  respect;  I  am  assured 
by  short-sighted  persons  of  both  sexes  that  they  are  much  more 
liable  to  the  emotions  of  shyness  and  modesty  with  their  glasses 
than  without  them;  such  persons  with  difficulty  realize  that  they 
are  not  so  dim  to  others  as  others'  are  to  them.  To  be  in  the 
company  of  a  blind  person  seems  also  to  be  a  protection  against 
shyness.^  It  is,  of  course,  not  as  the  mere  cloak  of  a  possible  blush 
that  darkness  gives  courage;  it  is  because  it  makes  impossible  a 
too-detailed  self-realization,  such  conscious  self-realization  being 
always  a  source  of  fears,  and  the  blush  their  definite  symbol  and 
visible  climax.     This  mechanism  of  blushing  thus  runs  parallel. 


this  cause,  perhaps,  or  possibly  also  to  the  fear  of  causing  disgust,  may  be 
ascribed  the  objection  of  men  to  undress  before  women  artists  and  women 
doctors.  I  am  told  there  is  often  difficulty  in  getting  men  to  pose  nude 
to  women  artists.  ]\Ir.  Jonathan  Hutchinson  was  recently  compelled  to 
exclude  lady  members  of  the  medical  profession  from  the  instructive 
demonstration  at  his  museum  "on  account  of  the  unwillingness  of  male 
patients  to  undress  before  them."  A  similar  unwillingness  is  not  found 
among  women  patients,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that,  while  women 
are  accustomed  to  regard  men  as  doctors,  men  (in  England)  are  not  yet 
accustomed  to  regard  women  as  doctors. 

^  The  influence  of  darkness  in  inhibiting  modesty  is  a  very  ancient 
observation.  Burton  in  the  "Anatomy  of  Melancholy"  quotes  Dandinus — 
"Xo.v  facit  impuilentes:' — connecting  this  influence  with  blushing. 

-  "I  am  acquainted  with  the  case  of  a  shy  man,"  writes  Dr.  Harry 
Campbell  in  his  interesting  study  of  "Morbid  Shyness"  (British  Medical 
Journal,  September  26,  1896),  "who  will  make  himself  quite  at  home  in 
the  house  of  a  blind  person,  and  help  himself  to  wine  with  the  utmost 
confidence,  whereas  if  a  member  of  the  family,  who  can  see.  comes  into 
the  room,  all  his  old  shyness  returns,  and  he  wishes  himself  far  away." 


46  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

on  the  physiological  side,  with  that  fear  of  evoking  disgust  to 
which  I  have  already  referred.  It  is  to  the  blush,  also,  that  we 
must  attribute  a  curious  complementary  relationship  between 
the  face  and  the  sacro-pubic  region  as  centres  of  anatomical 
modesty.  The  women  of  some  African  tribes  who  go  naked, 
Emin  Bey  remarked,  cover  the  face  with  the  hand  under  the 
influence  of  modesty.  ^Fartial  long  since  remarked  (Lib.  iii, 
LXVIII)  that  when  an  innocent  girl  looks  at  the  penis  she  gazes 
throuofh  her  finfrers.  AVhere,  as  anions:  manv  Mohammedan 
peoples,  the  face  is  the  chief  focus  of  modesty,  the  exposure  of 
the  rest  of  the  body,  including  sometimes  even  the  sacro-pubic 
resfion,  and  certainlv  the  leo^s  and  thi2:hs,  becomes  a  matter  of 
indifference.^  When,  also,  as  amonsr  ourselves  in  s^vnecoloijical 
practice,  examination  of  the  sexual  organs  is  required,  women 
frequently  find  evident  satisfaction  in  concealing  the  face  with 
the  hands,  although  not  the  slightest  attention  is  being  directed 
to  that  part  of  the  body.-  All  such  facts — to  which  might  be 
added  a  reference  to  the  marked  modesty  often  shown  in  some 
respects  by  prostitutes — serve  to  show  that,  though  the  forms 
of  modesty  may  change,  it  is  yet  a  very  radical  constituent  of 
human  nature  in  all  stages  of  civilization,  and  that  it  is,  to  a 
large  extent,  maintained  by  the  mechanism  of  blushing. 

It  may  still  be  asked,  finally,  whether,  on  the  whole,  mod- 


^  When  Casanova  was  at  Constantinople,  the  Comte  de  Bonneval,  a 
convert  to  Islam,  assured  him  that  he  was  mistaken  in  trying  to  see  a 
woman's  face  when  he  mipht  more  easily  obtain  jrreater  favors  from  her. 
"The  most  reserved  of  Tiirkisli  women."  the  Comte  assured  him.  "only 
carries  lier  modesty  in  her  face,  and  as  soon  as  her  veil  is  on  she  is  sure 
that  she  will  never  blush  at  anything;."     ("Memoires."  vol.  i,  p.  429.) 

-It  is  worth  notinpf  that  this  imjuilse  is  rooted  in  the  natural  in- 
stinctive acts  and  ideas  of  cliildlinod.  Prof.  Stanley  Hall.  dealinf]f  with 
the  "Early  Sense  of  Self,"  in  the  report  already  mentioned,  refers  to  the 
eyes  as  perhaps  even  more  than  the  hands,  feet,  and  mouth,  "the  centres 
of  tliat  kind  of  self-consciousness  which  is  always  mindtul  of  how  the  self 
appears  to  others."  and  proceeds  to  mention  "the  very  common  im- 
pression of  younp  children  that  if  the  eyes  are  covered  or  closed  they 
cannot  be  seen.  Some  think  tlie  j-ntire  body  thus  vanishes  from  sipht 
of  others;  some  that  the  head  also  ceases  to  be  visible;  and  a  still 
hifjhcr  form  of  this  curious  ])sychosis  is  that  when  they  are  closed  the 
soul  cannot  be  seen."  (American  Journal  of  I'sycholofry.  vol.  ix.  No.  3, 
IftOS.)  In  the  adult  woman  the  associated  idea  has  died  out,  but  the 
satisfaction  felt  in  the  act  still  persists. 


THE   EVOLUTION    OF   MODESTY.  -±7 

esty  really  becomes  a  more  prominent  emotion  as  civilization 
advances.  I  do  not  think  this  position  can  be  maintained.  It 
is  a  great  mistake,  as  we  have  se^n,  to  suppose  that  in  becoming 
extended  modesty  also  becomes  intensified.  On  the  contrary, 
this  very  extension  is  a  sign  of  weakness.  Among  savages  mod- 
esty is  far  more  radical  and  invincible  than  among  the  civilized. 
Of  the  Araucanian  women  of  Chile,  Treutler  has  remarked  that 
they  are  distinctly  more  modest  than  the  Christian  white  popu- 
lation, and  such  observations  might  be  indefinitely  extended. 
It  is,  as  we  have  already  noted,  in  a  new  and  crude  civilization, 
anxious  to  mark  its  separation,  from  a  barbarism  it  has  yet 
scarcely  escaped,  that  we  find  an  extravagant  and  fantastic 
anxiety  to  extend  the  limits  of  modesty  in  life  and  art  and  litera- 
ture. In  older  and  more  mature  civilizations — in  classical  an- 
tiquity, in  old  Japan,  in  France — modesty,  while  still  a  very 
real  influence,  becomes  a  much  less  predominant  and  all-pervad- 
ing influence.  In  life  it  becomes  subservient  to  human  use,  in 
art  to  beauty,  in  literature  to  expression.  Among  ourselves  we 
ma}^  note  that  modesty  is  a  much  more  invincible  motive  among 
the  lower  social  classes  than  among^  the  more  cultivated  classes. 
This  is  so  even  when  we  should  expect  the  influence  of  occupa- 
tion to  induce  familiarity.  Thus  I  have  been  told  of  a  ballet- 
girl  who  thinks  it  immodest  to  bathe  in  the  fashion  customary 
at  the  sea-side,  and  cannot  make  up  her  mind  to  do  so,  but  she 
appears  on  the  stage  every  night  in  tights  as  a  matter  of  course. 
Modesty  is  a  part  of  self-respect,  but  in  the  fully-developed 
human  being  self-respect  itself  holds  in  check  any  excessive 
modesty.  We  must  remember,  moreover,  that  there  are  more 
definite  grounds  for  the  subordination  of  modesty  with  the  de- 
velopment of  civilization.  We  have  seen  that  the  factors  of 
modesty  are  many,  and  that  most  of  them  are  based  on  emotions 
which  make  little  urgent  appeal  save  to  races  in  a  savage  or 
barbarous  condition.  Thus,  disgust,  as  Eichet  has  truly  pointed 
out,  necessarilv  decreases  as  knowledge  increases.^    As  we  analvze 


^  "Disgust,"  he  remarks,  "is  a  sort  of  synthesis  which  attaches  to 
the  total  form  of  objects,  and  which  must  diminish  and  disappear  as 
scientific  analysis  separates  into  parts  what,  as  a  whole,  is  so  repugnant." 


48  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

and  understand  our  experiences  better,  so  they  cause  us  less  dis- 
gust. A  rotten  egg  is  disgusting,  but  the  chemist  feels  no  disgust 
toward  sulphuretted  hj'drogen;  while  a  solution  of  propj^lamin 
does  not  produce  the  disgusting  impression  of  that  human  phj's- 
ical  uncleanliness  of  which  it  is  the  odorous  constituent.  As 
disgust  becomes  analyzed,  and  as  self-respect  tends  to  increased 
physical  purity,  so  the  factor  of  disgust  in  modesty  is  mini- 
mized. The  factor  of  ceremonial  uncleanliness,  again,  which  plays 
so  urgent  a  part  in  modesty  at  certain  stages  of  culture,  is  to-day 
without  influence  except  in  so  far  as  it  survives  in  etiquette.  In 
the  same  wav  the  social-economic  factor  of  modestv  beloncfs  to 
a  stage  of  human  development  which  is  wholly  alien  to  an  ad- 
vanced civilization.  Even  the  most  fundamental  impulse  of  all, 
the  gesture  of  sexual  refusal,  is  normally  only  imperative  among 
animals  and  savasres.  Thus  civilization  tends  to  subordinate, 
if  not  to  minimize,  modesty,  to  render  it  a  grace  of  life  rather 
than  a  fundamental  social  law  of  life.  But  an  essential  grace  of 
life  it  still  remains,  and  whatever  delicate  variations  it  may 
assume  we  can  scarcely  conceive  of  its  disappearance. 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SEXUAL  PERIODICITY. 


The  Various  Physiological  and  Psychological  Rhythms — Menstru- 
ation— The  Alleged  Influence  of  the  Moon — Frequent  Suppression  of 
Menstruation  among  Primitive  Races — Mittelschmerz — Possible  Tend- 
ency to  a  Future  Intermenstrual  Cycle — Menstruation  among  Animals — 
Menstruating  Monkeys  and  Apes — What  is  Menstruation? — Its  Primary 
Cause  still  Obscure — The  Relation  of  Menstruation  to  Ovulation — The 
Occasional  Absence  of  Menstruation  in  Health — The  Relation  of  Menstru- 
ation to  "Heat" — The  Prohibition  of  Intercourse  during  Menstruation — 
The  Predominance  of  Sexual  Excitement  at  and  around  the  Menstrual 
Period — Its  Absence  during  the  Period  Frequently  Apparent  only. 

Throughout  the  vegetable  and  animal  worlds  the  sexual 
functions  are  periodic.  From  the  usually  annual  period  of 
flowering  in  j^lants,  with  its  play  of  sperm-cell  and  germ-cell, 
and  consequent  seed-production,  through  the  varying  sexual 
energies  of  animals,  up  to  the  monthly  eJServescence  of  the  gen- 
erative organism  in  woman,  seeking  not  without  the  shedding 
of  blood  for  the  gratification  of  its  reproductive  function,  from 
first  to  last  we  find  unfailing  evidence  of  the  periodicity  of  sex. 
At  first  the  sun,  and  then,  as  some  have  thought,  the  moon,  have 
marked  throughout  a  rhythmic  impress  on  the  phenomena  of 
sex.  To  understand  these  phenomena  we  have  not  only  to  recog- 
nize the  bare  existence  of  that  periodic  fact,  but  to  realize  its  im- 
plications. Rh3^thm,  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  remark,  is  far 
from  characterizing  sexual  activity  alone.  It  is  the  character 
of  all  biological  activity,  alike  on  the  physical  and  the  psychic 
sides.  All  the  organs  of  the  body  appear  to  be  in  a  perpetual 
process  of  rhythmic  contraction  and  expansion.  The  heart 
is  rhythmic,  so  is  the  respiration.  The  spleen  is  rhythmic, 
so  also  the  bladder.  The  uterus  constantly  undergoes  regular 
rhythmic  contractions  at  brief  intervals.  The  vascular  system, 
down  to  the  smallest  capillaries,  is  acted  on  by  three  series  of 
vibrations,  and  every  separate  fragment  of  muscular  tissue  pos- 

(49) 


OU  PSYCHOLOGY   OF    SEX. 

sesses  rhythmic  contractility.  Growth  itself  is  rhythmic, 
and,  as  Malling-Hansen  and  subsequent  observers  have  found, 
follows  a  regular  annual  course  as  well  as  a  larger  cycle.  On  the 
psychic  sides  attention  is  rhythmic.  AVe  are  always  irresist- 
ibly compelled  to  impart  a  rhythm  to  every  succession  of  sounds, 
however  uniform  and  monotonous.  A  familiar  example  of  this 
is  the  rhythm  we  can  seldom  refrain  from  hearing  in  the  puffing 
of  an  engine.  A  series  of  experiments  by  Bolton  on  thirty  sub- 
jects showed  that  the  clicks  of  an  electric  telephone  connected 
in  an  induction-apparatus  nearly  always  fell  into  rhythmic 
groups,  usually  of  two  or  four,  rarely  of  three  or  five,  the  rhyth- 
mic perception  being  accompanied  by  a  strong  impulse  to  make 
corresponding  muscular  movements.^ 

It  is,  however,  with  the  influence — to  some  extent  real,  to 
some  extent,  perhaps,  only  apparent — of  cosmic  rhythm  that  we 
are  here  concerned.  The  general  tendency,  physical  and  psy- 
chic, of  nervous  action  to  fall  into  rhythm  is  merely  interesting 
from  the  present  point  of  view  as  showing  a  biological  predis- 
position to  accept  any  periodicity  that  is  habitually  imposed 
upon  the  organism.-  Menstruation  has  always  been  associated 
with  the  lunar  revolutions.  Darwin,  without  specifically  men- 
tioning menstruation,  has  suggested  that  the  explanation  of  the 
allied  cycle  of  gestation  in  mammals,  as  well  as  incubation  in 
birds,  may  be  found  in  the  condition  under  which  ascidians  live 
at  high  and  low  water  in  consequence  of  the  phenomena  of  tidal 
change.^  It  must,  however,  be  remembered  that  the  ascidian 
origin  of  the  vertebrates  has  since  been  contested  from  many 
sides,  and,  even  if  we  admit  that  at  all  events  some  such  allied 
conditions  in  the  early  history  of  vertebrates  and  their  ancestors 
tended  to  impress  a  lunar  cycle  on  the  race,  it  must  still  be  rc- 


^  Thaddeus  L.  Bolton,  "Rhythm,"  American  Journal  of  Psychology, 
January,  1804. 

-it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  warn  the  reader  that  this  statement 
does  not  prejudge  the  question  of  the  inheritance  of  acquired  characters. 
We  can  vers'  well  suppose  that  tiie  organism  became  adjusted  to  the 
rhythms  of  its  environment  by  a  series  of  couL-'cnital  variations.  Or  it 
might  be  held,  on  the  basis  of  Weismann's  doctrine,  that  the  germ-plasm 
has  been  directly  modified  by  the  environment. 

M)ar\\in,  '"'Descent  of  Man,"  p.   ](>4. 


iliE    PHENOMENA   OF    SEXUAL   PERIODICITY.  51 

membered  that  the  monthly  periodicity  of  menstruation  is  almost 
exclusively  human.  Bearing  in  mind  the  influence  exerted  on 
both  the  habits  and  the  emotions  even  of  animals  by  the  bright- 
ness of  moonlight  nights,  it  is  perhaps  not  extravagant  to  sup- 
pose that,  on  organisms  already  ancestrally  predisposed  to  the 
influence  of  rhythm  in  general  and  of  cosmic  rhythm  in  partic- 
ular, the  periodically  recurring  full  moon,  not  merely  by  its 
stimulation  of  the  nervous  system,  but  possibly  by  the  special 
opportunities  which  it  gave  for  the  exercise  of  the  sexual  func- 
tions, served  to  implant  a  lunar  rhythm  on  menstruation.  How 
important  such  a  factor  may  be  we  have  evidence  in  the  fact 
that  the  daily  life  even  of  the  most  civilized  peoples  is  still 
regulated  by  a  weekly  cycle  which  is  apparently  a  segment  of 
the  cosmic  lunar  cycle. 

Mantegazza  has  suggested  that  the  sexual  period  became 
established  with  relation  to  the  lunar  period,  because  moonlight 
nights  were  favorable  to  courting,^  and  Nelson  remarks  that  in 
his  experience  young  and  robust  persons  are  subject  to  recurrent 
periods  of  wakefulness  at  nights  w^hich  they  attribute  to  the 
action  of  the  full  moon.  One  may  perhaps  refer  also  to  the  tend- 
ency of  bright  moonlight  to  stir  the  emotions  of  the  young, 
especially  at  puberty,  a  tendency  which  in  neurotic  persons  may 
become  almost  morbid.^ 

It  is  interesting  to  point  out  that,  the  farther  back  we  are 
able  to  trace  the  beginnings  of  culture,  the  more  important  we 
find  the  part  played  by  the  moon.  Next  to  the  alternation  of 
day  and  night,  the  moon's  changes  are  the  most  conspicuous 
and  startling  phenomena  of  Nature;    they  first  suggest  a  basis 


^  Gason  describes  the  dances  and  sexual  festivals  of  the  South  Aus- 
tralian blacks,  generally  followed  by  promiscuous  intercourse,  as  taking 
place  at  full  moon.  (Journal  of  tlie  Anthropological  Institute,  Novem- 
ber, 1894.  p.  174.)  In  all  parts  of  the  world,  indeed,  including  Christen- 
dom, festivals  are  frequently  regulated  by  the  phases  of  the  moon. 

^  It  has  often  been  held  that  the  course  of  insanity  is  influenced  by 
the  moon.  Of  comparatively  recent  years  this  thesis  has  been  main- 
tained by  Koster  ("Ueber  die  Gesetze  des  periodischen  Irreseins  und 
verwandter  Nervenzustiinde,"  Bonn,  1882),  who  argues  in  detail  that 
periodic  insanity  tends  to  fall  into  periods  of  seven  days  or  multiples  of 
seven. 


52  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

for  reckoning  time;  they  are  of  the  greatest  use  in  primitive  agri- 
culture; and  everywhere  the  moon  is  held  to  have  vast  influence 
on  the  whole  of  organic  life.  Hahn  has  suggested  that  the  reason 
why  mythological  systems  do  not  usually  present  the  moon  in 
the  supreme  position  which  we  should  expect  is  that  its  im- 
mense importance  is  so  ancient  a  fact  that  it  tends,  with  mytho- 
logical .  development,  to  become  overlaid  by  other  elements.^ 
Even  in  Babylonia,  where  the  sun  was  most  specially  revered, 
at  the  earliest  period  the  moon  ranked  higher,  being  gradually 
superseded  by  the  worship  of  the  sun.-  Although  such  con- 
siderations as  these  will  by  no  means  take  us  as  far  back  as  the 
earliest  appearance  of  menstruation,  they  may  serve  to  indicate 
that  the  phases  of  the  moon  probably  played  a  large  part  in  the 
earliest  evolution  of  man.  With  that  statement  we  must  at 
present  rest  content. 

It  is  possible  that  the  monthly  character  of  menstruation, 
while  representing  a  general  tendency  of  the  human  race,  always 
and  ever5^where  prevalent,  may  be  modified  in  the  future.  It  is 
a  noteworthy  fact  that  among  many  primitive  races  menstruation 
only  occurs  at  long  intervals.  Thus  among  Esquimau  women 
menstruation  follows  the  peculiar  cosmic  conditions  to  which 
the  people  are  subjected;  Cook,  the  ethnologist  of  the  Peary 
Xorth  Greenland  expedition,  found  that  menstruation  only 
began  after  the  age  of  nineteen,  and  that  it  was  usually  sup- 
pressed during  the  winter  months,  when  there  is  no  sun.  only 
about  one  in  ten  women  continuing  to  menstruate  during  this 
period.  It  was  stated  by  Yelpcau  that  Lapland  and  Greenland 
women  usually  only  menstruate  every  three  months,  or  even 
only  two  or  three  times  during  the  year.  On  the  Faroe  Islands 
it  is  said  that  menstruation  is  frequently  absent.  Amons:  the 
Samoyeds  Mantegazza  mentions  that'menstniation  is  so  slight 
that  some  travelers  have  denied  its  existence.  Azara  noted 
among  the  Guaranis  of  Pnra.iriiay  that  menstruation  was  not 
only  slight  in  nmoiml.  Itnl   the  periods  were  se]")arated  by  long 


'Ed.   TTnhii.   "Doniotor  uiid   r.nulu)."   p.   23. 

Miisln.w.  "Rclijrion   of   l^abyloiiia,"   1S!)S.  pp.  08,  75-70,  4(11. 


THE    PHENOMENA    OF    SEXUAL    PERIODICITY.  513 

intervals.  Among  the  Indians  in  Xortli  America,  again,  men- 
struation appears  to  be  scant}'.  Thus,  Holder,  speaking  of  his 
experience  with  the  Crow  Indians  of  Montana,  says:  "I  am 
quite  sure  that  full-blood  Indians  in  this  latitude  do  not  men- 
struate so  freely  as  white  women,  not  usually  exceeding  three 
days.'"'^  Among  the  naked  women  of  Tierra  del  Fuego,  it  is 
said  that  there  is  often  no  physical  sign  of  the  menses  for  six 
months  at  a  time.  These  observations  are  noteworthy,  though 
they  clearly  indicate,  on  the  whole,  that  primitiveness  in  race  is 
a  very  powerless  factor  without  a  cold  climate.  On  the  other 
hand,  again,  there  is  some  reason  to  suppose  that  in  Europe 
there  is  a  latent  tendency  in  some  women  for  the  menstrual 
cycle  to  split  up  further  into  two  cycles,  by  the  appearance  of 
a  latent  minor  climax  in  the  middle  of  the  monthly  interval.  I 
allude  to  the  phenomena  usually  called  Mittelschmerz,  middle 
period,  or  intermenstrual  pain. 

MittelscJimerz  is  a  condition  of  pain  occurring  about  the  middle  of 
the  intermenstrual  period,  either  alone  or  accompanied  by  a  sanguineous 
discharge,  or  else  by  a  non-sanguineous  discharge.  The  phenomenon 
varies,  but  seems  usually  to  occur  about  the  fourteenth  day  and  to  last 
two  or  three  days.  Laycock,  in  1840  ("Xervous  Diseases  of  Women," 
p.  46).  gave  instances  of  Momen  with  an  intermenstrual  period.  Depaul 
and  Gueniot  ("Dictionnaire  Encyclopedique  des  Sciences  Medicales," 
article,  "Menstruation,"  p.  694)  speak  of  intermenstrual  symptoms,  and 
even  actual  flow,  as  occurring  in  women  who  are  in  a  perfect  state  of 
health,  and  constituting  genuine  "rrf/lcs  siirnumeraires.''  The  condition 
is,  however,  said  to  ha\e  been  first  fully  described  by  Yalleix;  then,  in 
1872,  by  Sir  William  Priestley:  and,  subsequently,  by  Fehling,  Fas- 
bender,  Sorel,  Halliday  Croom,  Findley,  Addinsell,  and  others.  (See,  for 
instance,  "Mittelschmerz,"  by  J.  Halliday  Croom,  "Transactions  of  Edin- 
burgh Obstetrical  Society."  vol.  xxi.  1896.  Also  Krieger,  "Menstrua- 
tion." pp.  68-69.)  Fliess  ("Die  Beziehungen  zwischen  Xase  und  weib- 
lichen  Geschlechts-Organen,"  p.  118)  goes  so  far  as  to  assert  that  an 
intermenstrual  period  of  menstrual  symptoms — which  he  terms  'Nehen- 
menstruatioji — is  "a  phenomenon  well  known  to  most  healthy  women." 
Observations  are  at  present  too  few  to  allow  any  definite  conclusions, 
and  in  some  of  the  cases  so  far  recorded  a  pathological  condition  of  the 
sexual   organs  has  been  found  to  exist.     There  is  no  agreement   as   to 


^  A.  B.  Holder,  "Gynecic  Xotes  among  American  India*ns,"  Ameri- 
can Journal  of  Obstetrics,  Xo.  6,  1892. 


54  PSYCHOLOGY    OF   SEX. 

the  cause  of  MittelftcJnuerz.  Some,  like  Addinsell,  have  attributed  it  to 
disease  of  the  Fallopian  tubes.  This,  however,  is  denied  by  such  com- 
petent authorities  as  Cullingworth  and  Bland  Sutton.  Others,  like  Priest- 
ley, and,  more  recently.  Marsh  {American  Journal  of  Obstetrics,  July, 
1897),  have  sought  to  find  the  explanation  in  the  occurrence  of  ovula- 
tion. This  theory  is,  however,  unsupported  by  facts,  and  eventually 
rests  on  the  exploded  belief  that  ovulation  is  the  cause  of  menstruation. 
Others,  again,  like  Armand  Routh  and  ^MacLean,  in  the  course  of  an  in- 
teresting discussion  on  Miticlschmerz  at  the  Obstetric  Society  of  London, 
on  the  second  of  March,  1898,  believe  that  we  may  trace  here  a  double 
menstruation,  and  would  explain  the  phenomenon  by  assuming  that 
in  certain  cases  there  is  an  intermenstrual  as  Avell  as  a  menstrual  cycle. 
The  question  is  not  j-et  ripe  for  settlement,  though  it  is  fully  evident 
that,  looking  broadly  at  the  phenomena  of  rut  and  menstruation,  the 
main  basis  of  their  increasing  frequency  as  we  rise  toward  civilized  man 
is  increase  of  nutrition,  heat  and  sunlight  being  factors  of  nutrition. 
AYhen  dealing  with  civilized  man,  however,  we  are  probably  concerned 
not  merely  with  general  nutrition,  but  with  the  nervous  direction  of  that 
nutrition. 

At  this  stage  it  is  natural  to  inquire  what  the  corresponding 
phenomena  are  among  animals.  Unfortunately,  imperfect  as  is 
our  comprehension  of  the  human  phenomena,  our  knowledge 
of  the  corresponding  phenomena  among  animals  is  much  more 
fragmentary  and  incomplete.  Among  most  animals  menstrua- 
tion does  not  exist,  being  replaced  by  what  is  variously  known 
as  rut,  heat,  or  estrus,  which  usually  occurs  once  or  twice  a 
year,  in  spring  and  in  autumn,  affecting  the  male  as  well  as  the 
female,  except  under  domestication.  There  is,  however,  a  great 
deal  of  progression  in  the  upward  march  of  the  phenomena,  as 
we  approach  our  own  and  allied  zoological  series.  Heat  in 
domesticated  cows  usually  occurs  every  three  weeks.  The  female 
hippopotamus  in  the  Zoological  Gardens  has  been  observed  to 
exhibit  monthly  sexual  excitement,  with  swelling  and  secretion 
from  the  vulva.  Progression  is  not  only  toward  greater  fre- 
quency witli  higher  evolution  or  witli  increased  domesiication, 
but  there  is  also  a  change  in  the  character  of  the  flow.  As  Wilt- 
shire,^ in  his  remarkable  lectures  on  the  "Comparative  Phys- 


'  A.  Wiltsliiro.  British  Medical  .Inurnal.  March,  1883.  The  best 
account  of  lioat  known  to  me  is  contained  in  Ellenborger's  Vergleich. 
rhys.  der  Ihiussaugctliien'.   1892.   B.  4.  Theil   2,  pp.  27()-284. 


THE    PHENOMEXA    OF    SEXUAL    PERIODICITY.  00 

iology  of  Menstruation/'  asserted  as  a  law,  the  more  highly 
evolved  the  animal,  the  more  sanguineous  the  catamenial  flow. 

It  is  not  until  we  reach  the  monkeys  that  this  character  of 
the  flow  becomes  well  marked.  Monthly  sanguineous  discharges 
have  been  observed  amon^^  manv  monkevs.  In  the  seventeenth 
century  various  observers  in  many  parts  of  the  world — Bohnius, 
Peyer,  Helbigius,  Van  der  Wiel,  and  others — noted  menstrua- 
tion in  monke3'S.^  Buffon  noted  them  among  various  monkeys 
as  well  as  in  the  orang-outang.  J.  G.  St.  Hilaire  and  Cuvier, 
many  years  ago,  declared  that  menstruation  exists  among  a 
variety  of  monkeys  and  lower  apes.  Eengger  described  a  vag- 
inal discharge  in  a  species  of  cebus  in  Paraguay,  while  Raciborski 
observed  in  the  Jardin  des  Plantes  that  the  menstrual  hemor- 
rhage in  guenons  was  so  abundant  that  the  floor  of  the  cage 
was  covered  by  it  to  a  considerable  extent;  the  same  variety  of 
monkey  was  observed  at  Surinam,  by  Hill,  a  surgeon  in  the 
Dutch  army,  who  noted  an  abundant  sanguineous  flow  occur- 
ring at  every  new  moon,  and  lasting  about  three  days,  the  animal 
at  this  time  also  showing  signs  of  sexual  excitement. - 

The  macaque  and  the  baboon  appear  to  be  the  non-human 
animals  in  which  menstruation  has  been  most  carefully  ob- 
served. In  the  former,  besides  the  flow.  Bland  Sutton  remarks 
that  "all  the  naked  or  pale-colored  parts  of  the  body,  such  as 
the  face,  neck,  and  ischial  regions,  assume  a  lively  pink  color;  in 
some  cases,  it  is  a  vivid  red."^  The  flow  is  slight,  but  the  color- 
ing lasts  several  days,  and  in  warm  weather  the  labia  are  much 
swollen. 

Heape*  has  most  fully  and  carefully  described  menstruation 
in  monkeys.  He  found  at  Calcutta  that  the  Macacus  cynomolgus 
menstruated  regularly  on  the  20th  of  December,  20th  of  Janu- 


^  Schurigiiis  ("Parthenologia,"  1729,  p.  125),  gives  numerous  refer- 
ences and  quotations. 

-  Quoted  by  Icard,  "La  Femme,"'  etc.,  p.  63. 

^  Bland  Sutton.  "Surgical  Diseases  of  the  Ovaries"  and  British 
Gynecological  Journal,  vol.  ii. 

*  W.  Heape,  "The  Menstruation  of  Semnopithecns  EnteUus,"  "Philo- 
sophical Transactions,"  1S94;  "Menstruation  and  Ovulation  of  Macacus 
Rhesus,"  "Philosophical   Transactions,"    1897. 


56  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

ary,  and  about  the  20th  of  February.  The  Cynoceplialus  porcaria 
and  the  Semnopithecus  entdlus  all  menstruated  each  month  for 
about  four  days.  In  the  Macaci  rhesus  and  cynomolgus  at  men- 
struation "the  nipples  and  vulva  become  swollen  and  deeply 
congested,  and  the  skin  of  the  buttocks  swollen,  tense,  and  of  a 
brilliant-red  or  even  purple  color.  The  abdominal  wall  also,  for 
a  short  space  upward,  and  the  inside  of  the  thighs,  sometimes 
as  far  down  as  the  heel,  and  the  under-surface  of  the  tail  for 
half  its  length  or  more,  are  all  colored  a  vivid  red,  while  the 
skin  of  the  face,  especially  about  the  eyes,  is  flushed  or  blotched 
with  red.'^  In  late  gestation  the  coloring  is  still  more  vivid. 
Something  similar  is  to  be  seen  in  the  males  also. 

Distant,  who  kept  a  female  baboon  for  some  time,  has  re- 
corded the  dates  of  menstruation  during  a  year.  He  found  that 
nine  periods  occurred  during  the  year.  The  average  length  of 
the  periods  was  nearly  six  weeks,  but  they  occurred  more  fre- 
quents in  the  late  autumn  and  the  winter  than  in  the  summer.^ 
It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  Heape  noted  that,  notwithstanding 
menstruation,  the  seasonal  influence,  or  rut,  still  persisted  in  the 
monkevs  he  investi orated. 

In  the  anthropoid  apes  Hartmann  remarks  that  several  ob- 
servers have  recorded  periodic  menstruation  in  the  chimpanzee, 
with  flushing  and  enlargement  of  the  external  parts,  and  pro- 
trusion of  the  external  lips,  which  are  not  usually  visible;  while 
there  is  often  excessive  enlargement  and  reddening  of  these 
parts  and  of  the  posterior  callosities  during  sexual  excitement. 
Very  little,  however,  appears  to  be  definitely  known  regarding 
any  form  of  menstruation  in  the  higher  apes.  M.  Deniker,  who 
has  made  a  special  study  of  the  anthropoid  apes,  informs  me 
that  he  has  so  far  been  unable  to  make  definite  observations  re- 
garding the  existence  of  menstruation.  Moll  remarks  that  he 
received  information  regarding  such  a  phenomenon  in  the  orang- 
outang. A  pair  of  orang-outangs  was  kept  in  the  Berlin  Zoolog- 
ical Gardens  some  years  ago,  and  the  female  was  stated  to  have  at 
intervals  a  menstrual  flow  resembling  that  of  women,  and  during 


^  W.  L.  Distant,  "Notes  on  the  Chacma  Baboon,"  Zoologist,  p.  29, 
1897. 


THE    PHENOMENA    OF    SEXUAL    PERIODICITY.  57 

this  period  to  refrain  from  sexual  congress,  which  was  other- 
wise usually  exercised  at  regular  intervals,  at  least  every  two  or 
three  days;  Moll  adds,  however,  that,  while  his  informant  u  a 
reliable  man,  the  length  of  time  that  has  elapsed  may  have  led 
him  to  make  mistakes  in  details.  Keith,  in  a  paper  read  before 
the  Zooloo-ical  Societv  of  London,  has  recentlv  described  men- 
struation  in  a  chimpanzee;  it  occurred  every  twenty-third  or 
twent3'-fourth  day,  and  lasted  for  three  days;  the  discharge  was 
profuse,  and  first  appeared  in  about  the  ninth  or  tenth  year.^ 

What  is  menstruation?  It  is  easy  to  describe  it,  by  its 
obvious  symptoms,  as  a  monthly  discharge  of  blood  from  the 
uterus,  but  nearly  as  much  as  that  was  known  in  the  infancy 
of  the  world.  When  we  seek  to  probe  more  intimately  into  the 
nature  of  menstruation  we  are  still  baffled,  not  merely  as  re- 
gards its  cause,  but  even  as  regards  its  precise  mechanism.  It 
is  no  longer  generally  accepted  that  menstruation  is  the  debris 
of  an  unduly  proliferated  epithelium  which  has  undergone  fatty 
degeneration,  a  process  which  we  should  expect  to  be  continu- 
ous. Xor  is  it  generally  agreed  (with  A.  W.  Johnstone)  that 
menstruation  is  simply  a  result  of  tonic  changes  produced  in 
the  uterus  by  the  upright  position.  It  is  not  even  widely  ac- 
cejoted  that  the  main  cause  of  menstruation  is  a  rhythmic  con- 
traction of  the  uterus — the  result  of  a  disappointed  preparation 
for  impregnation — a  kind  of  miniature  childbirth.-  "The  pri- 
mary cause  of  menstruation  remains  unexplained";  "the  cause 
of  menstruation  remains  as  obscure  as  ever';  so  conclude  two 
of  the  most  thorough  and  cautious  investigators  into  this  sub- 
ject.^ Fortunately,  sinc.e  we  are  here  primarily  concerned  with 
its  psychological  aspects,  the  precise  biological  cause  and  physio- 
logical nature  of  menstruation  do  not  greatly  concern  us. 

There  is,  however,  one  point  which  of  late  years  has  been 


1  Nature,  March  23,  1899. 

-  This,  however,  seems  to  be  the  most  reasonable  view  of  menstru- 
ation; i.r.,  as  an  abortion  of  a  decidua.  Burdach  (according  to  Beard) 
was  the  first  who  described  menstruation  as  an  abortive  parturition. 

MV.  Heape,  "The  Menstruation  of  SenDiopithecus  Eutellus,"  "Philo- 
sophical Transactions."  p.  483.  1894.  Bland  Sutton.  "Surgical  Diseases  of 
the  Ovaries."  1896. 


58  PSYCHOLOGY   OF    SEX. 

definitely  determined,  and  which  should  not  be  passed  without 
mention:  the  relation  of  menstruation  to  ovulation.  It  was 
once  supposed  that  the  maturation  of  an  ovule  in  the  ovaries 
was  the  necessary  accompaniment,  and  even  cause,  of  menstrua- 
tion. We  now  know  that  ovulation  proceeds  throughout  the 
whole  of  life,  even  before  birth,  and  during  gestation,^  and  that 
removal  of  the  ovaries  bv  no  means  necessarilv  involves  a  ces- 
sation  of  menstruation.  It  has  been  shown  that  regular  and 
even  excessive  menstruation  mav  take  place  in  the  cons^enital 
absence  of  a  trace  of  ovaries  or  Fallopian  tubes.-  On  the  other 
hand,  a  rudimentary  state  of  the  uterus,  and  a  complete  absence 
of  menstruation,  may  exist  with  well-developed  ovaries  and 
normal  ovulation.^  We  must  resfard  the  uterus  as  to  some  ex- 
tent  an  independent  organ,  and  menstruation  as  a  process  which 
arose,  no  doubt,  with  the  object,  teleologically  speaking,  of  co- 
operating more  effectively  with  ovulation,  but  has  become  largely 
independent."' 

It  is  sometimes  stated  that  menstruation  may  be  entirely  absent 
in  perfect  health.  Few  cases  of  this  condition  have,  however,  been 
recorded  with  the  detail  necessary  to  prove  the  assertion.  One  such 
case  was  investigated  by  Dr.  H.  W.  Mitchell,  and  described  in  a  paper 
read  to  the  New  York  County  Medical  Society,  February  22,  1892  (to 
be  found  in  ifcdical  Reprints,  June,  1892).  The  subject  was  a  young, 
unmarried  woman,  24  years  of  age.  She  was  born  in  Ireland,  and,  until 
her  emigration,  lived  quietly  at  home  with  her  parents.  Being  then 
twenty  years  of  age,  she  left  home  and  came  to  New  York.  Up  to  that 
time  no  signs  of  menstruation  had  appeared,  and  she  had  never  heard 


^  Robinson,  American  Gynecological  and  Obstetrical  Journal,  Au- 
gust, 1895. 

=  Bossi,  Annali  di  Ostet.  e.  Ginecol..  September,  1896;  summarized 
in  the  British  Medical  Journal,  October  31.  189C. 

'  Beuttner,  Centralblatt  fiir  Gyniikoloorie,  No.  49,  1893;  summarized 
in  British  Medical  Journal.  December,  1893.  Many  cases  show  that 
prcfrnancy  may  occur  in  the  absence  of  menstruation.  See,  c.j;..  Nou- 
volles  Archives  d'Obst^^trique  et  de  Gynecologic,  25  Janvier,  1894,  supple- 
ment, p.  9. 

*  It  is  still  possible,  and  even  probable,  tliat  the  primordial  cause  of 
both  phenomena  is  the  same.  Hoape  (in  a  paper  read  before  the  Obstet- 
rical Society  of  London,  April  0,  1898)  argues  that  both  menstruation 
and  ovulation  are  closely  connected  with  and  influenced  by  congestion, 
and  that  in  the  primitive  condition  they  are  largely  due  to  the  same 
cause. 


THE    PHEXOMEXA    OF    SEXUAL    PERIODICITY.  59 

that  such  a  function  existed.  Soon  after  her  arrival  in  Xew  York  she 
obtained  a  situation  as  a  waiting-maid,  and  her  fellow-servants  in  the 
house  where  she  lived,  and  also  lier  sister-in-law,  noticed  after  a  time 
that  she  was  not  unwell  at  each  month.  As  is  the  habit  of  the  un- 
educated, these  friends  filled  her  ears  with  wild  stories  about  the  dreadful 
effects  likely  to  follow  the  absence  of  menstruation,  and  she  was  told 
that  she  would  eventually  become  insane.  This  worried  her  greatly, 
and  as  a  consequence  she  became  pale  and  anaemic,  with  loss  of  flesh, 
appetite,  and  sleep,  and  she  suffered  from  a  long  train  of  imaginary 
nervous  symptoms. 

On  April  7,  1889,  she  presented  herself  for  treatment.  She  insisted 
upon  a  uterine  examination.  This  was  made,  but  revealed  no  patho- 
logical condition  of  her  uterus.  She  was  told  to  pay  no  attention  to  the 
fact  that  she  had  never  menstruated,  and  assured  that  she  would  not 
die,  or  become  insane,  nor  a  chronic  invalid.  In  consequence  she  soon 
forgot  that  she  differed  in  any  way  from  other  girls. 

A  course  of  chalybeate  tonics,  generous  diet,  and  proper  care  of  her 
general  health  soon  restored  her  to  her  normal  condition.  She  has  been 
under  close  observ^ation  for  several  years  since,  and  recently  submitted 
to  a  thorough  examination,  although  she  was  entirely-  free  from  any 
abnormal  symptoms.  The  examination  revealed  the  following  facts 
touching   her  physical   condition:  — 

Weight,  105  pounds  (her  weight  before  leaving  Ireland  was  130)  ; 
girth  of  chest,  twenty-nine  and  a  half  inches;  girth  of  abdomen,  twenty- 
five  inches;  girth  of  pelvis,  thirty-four  and  a  half  inches;  girth  of  thigh, 
upper  third,  twenty  inches;  heart  healthy,  sounds  and  rhythm  perfectly 
normal;  pulse,  76;  lungs  healthy,  respiratory  murmur  clear  and  dis- 
tinct over  every  part;  respiration,  easy  and  twenty  per  minute;  the 
mammae  are  well  developed,  firm,  and  round;  nipples  small,  no  areola; 
her  skin  is  soft,  smooth,  and  healthy;  figure  erect,  plump,  and  symmet- 
rical; her  bowels  are  regular;  kidneys,  healthy.  She  has  a  good  ap- 
petite, sleeps  well,  and  in  no  particular  shows  any  sign  of  ill  health. 

The  uterine  examination  reveals  a  short  vagina,  and  a  small,  round 
cervix  uteri,  rather  less  in  size  than  the  average,  and  projecting  very 
slightly  into  the  vaginal  canal.  Depth  of  uterus  from  os  to  fundus,  two 
and  a  quarter  inches.  This  would  show  that  the  organ  is  very  nearly 
normal  in  size.  There  is  no  external  sign  of  abnormal  ovaries.  This  ex- 
amination shows  that  she  is  a  well-developed  healthy  young  woman, 
performing  all  her  physiological  functions  naturally  and  regularly,  ex- 
cept the  single  function  of  menstruation.  Xo  vicarious  menstruation 
takes  the  place  of  the  natural  function,  though  she  has  been  watched 
very  closely  during  the  past  two  years,  nor  the  least  periodical  excite- 
ment. It  is  added  tliat,  though  the  clitoris  is  normal,  the  mons  veneris 
is  almost  destitute  of  hair,  and  the  labia  rather  undeveloped,  while,  "as 


60  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

far  as  is  known,''  sexual  instincts  and  desire  are  entirely  absent.  These 
latter  facts,  I  may  add,  would  seem  to  suggest  that  in  spite  of  the 
health  of  the  subject  there  is  yet  some  concealed  lack  of  development  of 
the  sexual  system  of  congenital  character.  In  a  case  recorded  by  Plant 
{Cejitralblatt  fiir  Gyniikoloyie,  Xo.  9,  189G;  summarized  in  the  British 
Medical  Journal,  April  4,  189G),  in  which  the  internal  sexual  organs 
were  almost  wholly  undeveloped  and  menstruation  absent,  the  labia  were 
similarly  undeveloped,  and  the  pubic  hair  scanty,  while  the  axillary  hair 
was  wholly  absent,  though  that  of  the  head  was  long  and  strong. 

"We  may  now  regard  as  purely  academic  the  discussion  for- 
merly carried  on  as  to  whether  menstruation  may  be  regarded  as 
analogous  to  heat  in  female  animals.  For  many  centuries  at 
least  the  resemblance  has  been  sufficiently  obvious.  Raciborski 
and  Pouchet,  who  first  established  the  regular  periodicity  of 
ovulation  in  mammals,  identified  rut  and  menstruation.^  During 
the  present  century  there  has,  notwithstanding,  been  an  occa- 
sional tendency  to  deny  any  real  connection.  No  satisfactory 
grounds  for  this  conclusion  have,  however,  been  brought  for- 
ward. Lawson  Tait,  indeed,  and  more  recently  Beard,  have 
stated  that  menstruation  cannot  be  the  period  of  rut,  because 
women  hav€  a  disinclination  to  the  approach  of  the  male  at 
that  time.-  But,  as  we  shall  see  later,  this  statement  is  un- 
founded. An  argument  which  might,  indeed,  be  brought  for- 
ward is  the  very  remarkable  fact  that,  while  in  animals  the 
period  of  heat  is  the  only  period  for  sexual  intercourse,  among 
all  human  races,  from  the  very  loAvest,  the  period  of  menstrua- 
tion is  the  one  period  during  which  sexual  intercourse  is  strictly 
prohibited,  sometimes  under  severe  penalties,  even  life  itself. 
This,  however,  is  a  social,  not  a  physiological,  fact. 

Ploss  and  Bartcls  call  attention  to  the  curious  contrast,  in  this 
respect,  between  heat  and  menstruation.  The  same  authors  also  men- 
tion that  in  the  ^Middle  Ages,  liowever.  preachers  found  it  necessary 
to  warn  their  hearers  against  the  sin  of  intercourse  during  tlie  men- 
strual   period.      It  may   be   added   that,   of   coiiiiJavatively   recent   times, 


M'ouchot.  "TlK'oric  dc  l"Ovul:ilic)ii  Sponlanc'c."  1847. 

-Tait,  IMovincial  Medical  .lounial.  May.  1S91:  J.  Heard.  "The  Span 
of  Gestation,"  1897,  p.  (>9.  Lawson  Tait  is  reduced  to  the  assertion  that 
ovulation  and  meiislnial  ion  are  ideiilieal.  As.  however,  ovulation  is  a 
continuous  process  Hirougliout  life,  such  a  position  is  wholly  indefensible. 


THE    PHENOMENA    OF    SEXUAL    PEKIODICITY.  Gl 

Catholic  theologians  have  regarded  intercourse  during  menstruation 
as  a  sin.  Icard  ("La  Fenime,"  etc.,  p.  40)  points  out  tliat  some  Catholic 
theologians  have  declared  that  intercourse  during  menstruation,  if  not 
a  mortal  sin,  is  at  least  a  venial  sin,  and  he  refers  especially  to  Cornelius 
A'Lapide.  Sanchez,  I  may  remark,  states  that  many  theologians  con- 
sider it  a  mortal  sin  to  seek  intercourse  during  menstruation,  but  he  does 
jiot  himself  consider  it  a  mortal  sin  under  any  such  circumstances. 

We  have  here  a  remarkable,  but  not  an  isolated,  example 
of  the  tendenc}^  of  the  human  mind  in  its  development  to  rebel 
against  the  claims  of  primitive  nature.  The  whole  of  religion  is 
a  similar  remolding  of  nature,  a  repression  of  natural  impulses, 
an  eifort  to  turn  them  into  new  channels.  Prohibition  of  inter- 
course during  menstruation  is  a  fundamental  element  of  savage 
ritual,  an  element  which  is  universal  merely  because  the  con- 
ditions which  caused  it  are  universal,  and  because — as  is  now 
beginning  to  be  generally  recognized — the  causes  of  human 
psychic  evolution  are  everywhere  the  same.  A  strictly  analo- 
gous phenomenon  in  the  sexual  sphere  itself  is  the  opposed  atti- 
tude in  barbarism  and  civilization  toward  the  sexual  organs. 
Under  barbaric  conditions  and  among  savages,  when  no  relig- 
ious ideas  intervene,  the  sexual  organs  are  beautiful  and  pleas- 
urable objects.  Under  modern  conditions  this  is  not  so.  This 
difference  of  attitude  is  reflected  in  sculpture.  In  savage  and 
barbaric  carvings  of  human  beings  the  sexual  organs  of  both 
sexes  are  often  'enormously  exaggerated.  This  is  true  of  the 
archaic  European  figures  on  which  Salomon  Eeinach  has  throAvn 
so  much  light,  but  in  modern  sculpture,  from  the  time  when  it 
reached  its  perfection  in  Greece  onward,  the  sexual  regions  in 
both  men  and  women  are  systematically  minimized.^  . 

With  advancing  culture — as  again  we  shall  see  later — there 
is  a  conflict  of  claims,  and  certain  considerations  are  regarded 
as  "higher"  and  more  potent  than  merely  "natural"  claims. 
ISTakedness  is  more  natural  than  clothing,  and  on  many  grounds 
more   desirable   under  the   average   circumstances   of  life,   yet. 


^  As  Moll  points  out,  even  tlie  secondary  sexual  characters  have 
undergone  a  somewhat  similar  change.  The  beard  was  once  an  impor- 
tant sexual  attraction,  but  men  can  now  afl'ord  to  dispense  with  it  with- 
out fear  of  loss  in  attractiveness.     "Libido  Sexualis,"  B.   1,  p.  387. 


62  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

eTerywhere,  under  the  stress  of  what  are  regarded  as  higher 
considerations,  there  is  a  tendency  lor  all  races  to  add  more  and 
more  to  the  burden  of  clothes.  In  the  same  way  it  happens  that 
the  tendency  of  the  female  to  sexual  intercourse  durins:  men- 
struation^  has  everywhere  been  overlaid  by  the  ideas  ol  a  cult- 
ure which  have  insisted  on  regarding  menstruation  as  a  super-, 
natural  phenomenon  Avhich,  for  the  protection  of  everj'body, 
must  be  strictly  tabooed.-  This  tendency  is  reinforced,  and  in 
high  civilization  replaced,  by  the  claims  of  an  esthetic  regard 
for  concealment"  and  reserve  during  this  period.  Such  facts  are 
significant  for  the  early  history  of  culture,  but  they  must  not 
blind  us  to  the  real  analogy  between  heat  and  menstruation,  an 
analogy  or  even  identity  which  may  be  said  to  be  accepted  now 
by  most  careful  investigators.^ 

If  it  is,  perhaps,  somewhat  excessive  to  declare,  with  John- 
stone, that  ''woman  is  the  only  animal  in  which  rut  is  omni- 
present," we  must  admit  that  the  two  groups  of  phenomena 
merge  into  or  replace  each  other,  that  their  object  is  identical, 
that  they  involve  similar  psychic  conditions.  Here,  also,  we 
see  a  striking  example  of  the  way  in  which  women  preserve  a 
primitive  phenomenon  which  earlier  in  the  zoological  series  was 
common  to  both  sexes,  but  which  man  has  now  lost.  Heat  and 
menstruation,  with  whatever  difference  of  detail,  are  practically 
the  same  phenomenon.  We  cannot  imderstand  menstruation 
unless  we  bear  this  in  mind. 

On  the  psychic  side  the  chief  normal  and  primitive  charac- 
teristic of  the  menstrual  state  is  the  more  predominant  presence 
of  the  sexual  impulse.  There  are  other  mental  and  emotional 
signs  of  irritability  and  instability  which  tend  to  slightly  im- 
pair complete  mental  integrity  and  to  render  in  some  unbalanced 
individuals  explosions  of  anger  or  depression,  in  rarer  cases  crime, 


'  It  is  not  absolutely  established  that  in  nienstniatinp  animals  the 
period  of  nicnstnintion  i«  nlways  a  ]ieriod  of  sexual  confri'ess;  probably 
not,  the  influeiKc  of  iiicu-truation  beiiifr  diminished  by  tlie  more  funda- 
mental influence  of  lireedinp  seasons,  which  afTect  the  male  also. 

-  See  Ap|)endix  A. 

^  r.land  Sutton,  /or.  cit..  p.  890. 


THE    PHENOMENA    OF    SEXUAL    PERIODICITY.  63 

more  common;^  but  the  heightening  of  the  sexual  impulse,  lan- 
guor, shyness,  and  caprice  are  the  more  human  manifestations 
of  an  emotional  state  which  in  some  of  the  lower  female  animals 
during  heat  may  produce  a  state  of  fury. 

The  actual  period  of  the  menstrual  flow,  at  all  events  the 
first  two  or  three  days,  does  not  among  European  women  usually 
appear  to  show  any  heightening  of  sexual  emotion.-  This  height- 
ening occurs  usually  a  few^  days  before  and  also  during  the  latter 
part  of  the  flow,  and  immediately  after  it  ceases.  I  have,  how- 
ever, convinced  myself  by  inquiry  that  this  absence  of  sexual 
feeling  during  the  height  of  the  flow  is,  in  large  part,  apparent 
only.  Xo  doubt,  the  onset  of  the  flow,  producing  a  general  de- 
pression of  vitality,  may  tend  directly  to  depress  the  emotions, 
which  are  heightened  by  the  general  emotional  state  and  local 
congestion  of  the  days  immediately  preceding;  but  among  some 
women,  at  all  events,  who  are  normal  and  in  good  health,  I  find 
that  the  period  of  menstruation  itself  is  the  period  of  the  climax 
of  sexual  feeling.  Thus,  a  married  lady  writes:  "My  feelings 
are  always  very  strong,  not  only  just  before  and  after,  but  during 
the  period;  very  unfortunately,  as,  of  course,  they  cannot  then 
be  gratified^^;  while  a  refined  girl  of  19,  living  a  chaste  life,  with- 
out either  coitus  or  masturbation,  which  she  has  never  practiced, 
habitually  feels  very  strong  sexual  excitement  about  the  time  of 
menstruation,  and  more  especially  during  the  period;  this  desire 
torments  her  life,  prevents  her  from  sleeping  at  these  times,  and 
she  looks  upon  it  as  a  kind  of  illness.^  I  could  quote  many 
other  similar  and  equally  emphatic  statements,  and  the  fact  that 


^  For  a  sketch  of  the  general  psychic  state  during  menstruation, 
see  H.  Ellis,  "Man  and  Woman,"  Chapter  XI,  "The  Functional  Periodicity 
of  Women." 

-  This  is  by  no  means  true  of  European  women  only.  Thus  we  read 
in  an  Arabic  book.  "The  Perfumed  Garden,"  that  women  have  an  aver- 
sion to  coitus  during  menstruation.  On  the  other  hand,  the  old  Hindoo 
physician,  Susruta,  appears  to  have  stated  that  the  tendency  to  run  after 
men  is  one  of  the  signs  of  menstruation. 

^  It  may  be  noted  that  (as  Barnes,  Oliver,  and  others  have  pointed 
out)  there  is  heightened  blood-pressure  during  menstruation.  Haig  re- 
marks that  he  has  found  a  tendency  for  high  pressure  to  be  accom- 
panied bv  increased  sexual  appetite  ("Uric  Acid."  4th  edition,  1897, 
p.  129). 


64  PSYCHOLOGY   OF    SEX. 

SO  cardinal  a  relationship  of  the  sexual  life  of  women  should  be 
ignored  or  denied  by  most  writers  on  this  matter  is  a  curious 
proof  of  the  prevailing  ignorance.^ 

This  ignorance  has  been  fostered  by  the  fact  that  women 
often  disguise  even  to  themselves  the  real  state  of  their  feelings. 
One  lady  remarks  that  while  she  would  be  ver}^  ready  for  coitus 
during  menstruation,  the  thought  that  it  is  impossible  during 
that  time  makes  her  put  the  idea  of  it  out  of  her  mind.  I  have 
reason  to  think  that  this  statement  may  be  taken  to  represent 
the  real  feelings  of  very  many  women.  The  aversion  to  coitus 
is  real,  but  it  is  often  due,  not  to  failure  of  sexual  desire,  but 
to  the  inhibitory  action  of  powerful  extraneous  causes.  The 
absence  of  active  sexual  desire  in  women  during  the  height  of 
the  flow  may  thus  be  regarded  as  to  some  extent  a  physiological 
fact  due  to  the  languor  produced  by  the  process,  and  in  much 
larger  degree  a  psychological  fact  due  to  the  esthetic  repugnance 
to  union  when  in  such  a  condition,  and  to  the  unquestioned  ac- 
ceptance of  the  general  belief  that  at  such  a  period  intercourse 
is  out  of  the  question.  Some  of  the  strongest  factors  of  mod- 
esty, especially  the  fear  of  causing  disgust  and  the  sense  of  the 
demands  of  ceremonial  ritual,  would  thus  help  to  hold  in  check 
the  sexual  emotions  during  this  period,  and  when,  under  the 
influence  of  insanity,  these  motives  are  in  abeyance,  the  coin- 
cidence of  sexual  desire  with  the  menstrual  flow  often  becomes 
more  obvious. 

It  must  be  added  that,  especially  among  the  lower  social 
classes,  the  primitive  belief  of  the  savage  that  coitus  during 
menstruation  is  bad  for  the  man  still  persists.  Ploss  and  Bar- 
tels  mention  that  amona-  the  peasants  in  some  parts  of  German}^ 


^  Sir  W.  F.  Wado,  however,  remarked,  some  years  ajjo  in  liis  Inirlehy 
Lectures  (Lancet,  June  f).  1880):  "It  is  far  from  ex('ei)tional  to  find  lliat 
there  is  an  extreme  enhancement  of  concupiscence  in  the  immediate 
precatamenial  period."  and  adds,  "T  am  satisfied  that  evidence  is  ohlain- 
able  that  in  some  instances  ardor  is  at  its  maximum  durinc^  the  actual 
period,  and  suspect  that  cases  occur  in  which  it  is  almost,  if  not  entirely, 
limited  to  that  time."  Lon<?  apfo,  however,  the  fjenius  of  Haller  had  noted 
the  same  fact.  More  recently,  Tcard  ("La  Femme."  Chapter  VI  and 
elsewhere:  cj/.,  p.  125)  has  brought  forward  much  evidence  in  confirma- 
tion of  this  view. 


THE    PHENOMENA    OF    SEXUAL    PERIODICITY.  G5 

where  it  is  believed  that  impregnation  is  impossible  during  men- 
struation, coitus  at  that  time  would  be  frequent  were  it  not 
thought  dangerous  for  the  man/  It  has  also  been  a  common 
belief  both  in  ancient  and  modern  times  that  coitus  during 
menstruation  engenders  monsters.-  Notwithstanding  all  the 
obstacles  that  are  thus  placed  in  the  way  of  coitus  during  men- 
struation, there  is  nevertheless  good  reason  to  believe  that  the 
first  coitus  very  frequently  takes  place  at  this  point  of  least 
psychic  resistance.  When  still  a  student  I  was  struck  by  the 
occurrence  of  cases  in  which  seduction  took  place  during  the 
menstrual  flow,  though  at  that  time  they  seemed  to  me  inexpli- 
cable, except  as  evidencing  brutality  on  the  part  of  the  seducer. 
Xegrier,^  in  the  lying-in  wards  of  the  Hotel-Dieu  at  Angers, 
constantly  found  that  the  women  from  the  country  who  came 
there  pregnant  as  the  result  of  a  single  coitus  had  been  impreg- 
nated at  or  near  the  menstrual  epoch,  more  especially  when  the 
period  coincided  with  a  feast-day,  as  St.  John's  Day  or  Christmas. 
Whatever  doubt  may  exist  as  to  the  most  frequent  state  of 
the  sexual  emotions  during  the  period  of  menstruation,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  whatever  that  immediately  before  and  im- 
mediately after,  or  more  commonly  at  both  times — this  varying 
slightly  in  different  women — there  is  usually  a  marked  height- 
ening of  actual  desire.*  It  is  at  this  period  (and  sometimes 
during  the  menstrual  flow)  that  masturbation  usually  takes 
place  in  women  who  at  other  times  have  no  strong  auto-erotic 
impulse.     The  only  women  who  do  not  show  this  heightening 


^  It  is  possible  there  may  be  an  element  of  truth  in  this  belief. 
Diday,  of  Lyons,  found  that  chronic  urethorrhea  is  an  occasional  result 
of  intercourse  during  menstruation.  Raciborski  ("Traite  de  la  Menstrua- 
tion," 1868,  p.  12),  who  also  paid  attention  to  this  point,  while  confirm- 
ing Diday,  came  to  the  conclusion  that  some  special  conditions  must  be 
present  on  one  or  both  sides. 

-  See.  €.(].,  Ballantvne,  "Teratogenesis,"  "Transactions  of  the  Edin- 
burgh Obstetrical  Society,"  1896,  vol.  xxi.  pp.  324-25. 

^  As  quoted  by  Icard,  "La  Femme,"  etc.,  p.  194.  I  have  not  been 
able  to  see  Ne^ier's  work. 

*  The  advice  of  Hippocrates  concerning  sterile  women,  "Let  the  hus- 
band approach  at  the  beginning  of  the  monthly  purgation,"  was  probably 
a  medical  recognition  of  the  fact  that  this  was  the  period  when  the 
woman  felt  most  apt  for  coitus. 

5 


66  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

of  sexual  emotion  seem  to  be  those  in  whom  sexual  feelings 
have  not  yet  been  definite!}'  called  into  consciousness,  or  the 
small  minority,  usually  sufl:ering  from  some  disorder  of  sexual 
or  general  health,  in  whom  there  is  a  high  degree  of  sexual 
anesthesia.^ 

The  majority  of  authorities  admit  a  heightening  of  sexual  emotion 
before  or  after  the  menstrual  crisis.  See,  e.g.,  Krafft-Ebing,  who  places 
it  at  the  post-menstrual  period  ("Psychopathia  Sexualis,"  eighth  edition, 
p.  24).  Even  this  elementary  fact  of  the  sexual  life  has,  however,  been 
denied,  and,  strange  to  say,  by  two  women  doctors.  Dr.  Mary  Putnam 
Jacobi,  of  New  York,  who  has  furnished  valuable  contributions  to  the 
physiology  of  menstruation,  in  a  paper  on  "The  Theory  of  Menstruation," 
wrote  some  years  ago  in  reference  to  the  question  of  the  connection  be- 
tween oestrus  and  menstruation:  "Neither  can  any  such  rhythmical 
alteration  of  sexual  instinct  be  demonstrated  in  women  as  would  lead 
to  the  inference  that  the  menstrual  crisis  was  an  expression  of  this"; 
i.e.,  of  estrus.  Dr.  Elizabeth  Blackwell,  again,  in  her  book  on  "The 
Human  Element  in  Sex,"  asserts  that  the  menstrual  flow  itself  affords 
complete  relief  for  the  sexual  feelings  in  women  (like  sexual  emissions 
during  sleep  in  men),  and  thus  practically  denies  the  prevalence  of 
sexual  desire  in  the  immediately  post-menstrual  period,  when,  on  such 
a  theory,  sexual  feeling  should  be  at  its  minimum.  It  is  fair  to  add  that 
Dr.  Blackwell's  opinion  is  merely  the  survival  of  a  view  which  was 
widely  held  nearly  a  century  ago,  when  various  writers  (Bordeu, 
Roussel,  Duffieux,  J.  Arnould,  etc.),  as  Icard  has  pointed  out,  regarded 
menstruation  as  a  device  of  Providence  for  safeguarding  the  virginity 
of   women. 


'  Tlio  debated  question  as  to  the  prevalence  of  sexual  anesthesia  in 
women  does  not  properly  call  for  discussion  here.  I  shall  deal  with  it 
elsewhere. 


II. 

The  Question  of  a  Monthly  Sexual  Cycle  in  Men — The  Earliest  Sug- 
gestions of  a  General  Physiological  Cycle  in  Men — Periodicity  in  Dis- 
ease— Insanity,  Heart  Disease,  etc. — The  Alleged  Twenty-three  Days' 
Cycle — The  Physiological  Periodicity  of  Seminal  Emissions  during  Sleep 
— Original   Observations — Fortnightly   and   Weekly   Rhythms. 

For  some  centuries^  at  least,  inquisitive  observers  here  and 
there  have  thought  they  found  reason  to  believe  that  men  as 
well  as  women  present  various  signs  of  a  menstrual  physiological 
C3Tle.  It  would  be  possible  to  collect  a  number  of  opinions  in 
favor  of  such  a  monthly  ph3^siological  periodicity  in  men.  Pre- 
cise evidence,  however,  is,  for  the  most  part,  lacking.  Men  have 
expended  infinite  ingenuity  in  establishing  the  remote  rhythms 
of  the  solar  system  and  the  periodicity  of  comets.  They  have 
disdained  to  trouble  about  the  simpler  task  of  proving  or  disprov- 
ing the  cycles  of  their  own  organisms.^  It  is  over  half  a  century 
since  Laycock  wrote  that  ^^the  scientific  observation  and  treat- 
ment of  disease  are  impossible  without  a  knowledge  of  the  mys- 
terious revolutions  continually  taking  place  in  the  system";  yet 
the  task  of  summarizing  the  whole  of  our  knowledge  regarding 
these  "mysterious  revolutions'^  is  even  to-day  no  heavy  one.  As 
to  the  existence  of  a  monthly  cycle  in  the  sexual  instincts  of  men, 
with  a  single  exception,  I  am  not  aware  that  any  attempt  has 
been  made  to  bring  forward  definite  evidence.  A  certain  interest 
and  novelty  attaches,  therefore,  to  the  evidence  I  am  able  to  pro- 
duce, although  that  evidence  will  not  suffice  to  settle  the  question 
finally. 

The  great  Italian  physician,  Sanctorius,  who  was  in  so  many 
ways  the  precursor  of  our  modern  methods  of  physiological  re- 


^  Even  counting  the  pulse  is  a  comparatively  recent  method  of 
physiological  examination.  It  was  not  until  1450  that  Xicolas  of  Cusa 
advocated  counting  the  pulse-beats.  (Binz,  Deutsche  medicinische  Woch- 
enschrift.  October  6,  1898.) 

(67) 


68  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

search  b}^  the  means  of  instniments  of  precision,  was  the  first, 
so  far  as  I  am  aware,  to  suggest  a  montlil}'  cycle  of  the  organism 
in  men.  He  had  carefully  studied  the  weight  of  the  body  with 
reference  to  the  amount  of  excretions,  and  believed  that  a 
monthly  increase  in  weight  to  the  amount  of  one  or  two  pounds 
occurred  in  men,  followed  by  a  critical  discharge  of  urine,  this 
crisis  being  preceded  by  feelings  of  heaviness  and  lassitude.^ 
Gall,  another  great  initiator  of  modern  views,  likewise  asserted  a 
monthly  cycle  in  men.  He  insisted  that  there  is  a  monthly  crit- 
ical period  more  marked  in  nervous  people  than  in  others,  and 
that  at  this  time  the  complexion  becomes  dull,  the  breath 
stronger,  digestion  more  laborious,  while  there  is  sometimes  dis- 
turbance of  the  urine,  together  with  general  malaise,  in  which 
the  temper  takes  part;  ideas  are  formed  with  more  difficulty, 
and  there  is  a  tendency  to  melancholy,  with  unusual  irascibility 
and  mental  inertia,  lasting  a  few  days.  More  recently  Stephen- 
son, who  established  the  cyclical  wave-theory  of  menstruation, 
aruged  that  it  exists  in  men  also,  and  is  really  ^'a  general  law 
of  vital  energy.^'- 

Sanctorius  does  not  appear  to  have  published  the  data  on  which 
his  belief  was  founded.  Keill,  an  English  follower  of  Sanctorius,  in 
his  "Medicina  Statica  Britannica"  (1718),  published  a  series  of  daily 
(morning  and  evening)  bod j^- weights  for  the  year,  without  referring 
to  the  question  of  a  monthly  cycle.  A  period  of  maximum  weight  is 
shown  usually  by  Keill's  figures  to  occur  about  once  a  month,  but  it 
is  generally  irregular,  and  cannot  usually  be  shown  to  occur  at  definite 
intervals.  Monthly  discharges  of  blood  from  the  sexual  organs  and  other 
parts  of  the  body  in  men  liave  been  recorded  in  ancient  and  modern 
times,  and  Mere  treated  of  by  the  older  medical  writers  as  an  affliction 
peculiar  to  men  with  a  feminine  system.  (Laycock,  "Nervous  Diseases 
of  Women,"  p.  79).  A  summary  of  such  cases  will  be  found  in  Gould 
and  Pyle  ("Anomalies  and  Curiosities  of  Medicine,"  1897,  pp.  27-28). 
Laycock  {Lancet,  1842-43,  vols,  i  and  ii)  brought  forward  cases  of 
monthly  and  fortnightly  cycles  in  disease,  and  asserted  "the  general 
principle  that  there  are  greater  and  less  cycles  of  movements  going  on 
in  the  system,  involving  each  other,  and  closely  connected  with  the 
organization  of  tlie  individual."     He  was  inclined  to  accept  lunar  influ- 


'  Sanctorius,   "Medicina   Statica,"   Sect.   I.  aph.   Ixv. 
'American  Journal  of  Obstetrics,  xiv,  1882. 


THE    PHENOMENA    OF    SEXUAL    PERIODICITY.  69 

ence,  and  believed  that  the  physiological  cycle  is  made  up  of  definite 
fractions  and  multiples  of  a  period  of  seven  days,  especially  a  unit  of 
three  and  a  lialf  days.  Albreclit,  a  somewhat  erratic  zoologist,  put 
forth  the  view  a  few  years  ago  that  there  are  menstrual  periods  in  men, 
giving  the  following  reasons:  (1)  males  are  rudimentary  females,  (2) 
in  all  males  of  mammals  a  rudimentary  masculine  uterus  (Miiller's 
ducts)  still  persists,  (3)  totally  hypospadic  male  individuals  menstruate; 
and  believed  that  he  had  shown  that  in  man  there  is  a  rudimentary 
menstruation  consisting  in  an  almost  monthly  periodic  appearance,  last- 
ing for  three  or  four  days,  of  white  corpuscles  in  the  urine  {Anonuilo, 
February,  1890).  Dr.  Campbell  Clark  some  years  since  made  observa- 
tions on  asylum  attendants  in  regard  to  the  temperature,  during  five 
weeks,  which  tended  to  show  that  the  normal  male  temperature  varies 
considerably  within  certain  limits,  and  that  "so  far  as  I  have  been  able 
to  observe,  there  is  one  marked  and  prolonged  rise  every  month  or  five 
weeks,  averaging  three  days,  occasional  lesser  rises  appearing  irregularly 
and  of  shorter  duration.  These  observations  are  only  made  in  three 
cases,  and  I  have  no  proof  that  they  refer  to  the  sexual  appetite"  (Camp- 
bell Clark,  "The  Sexual  Reproductive  Functions,"  Psychological  Section, 
British  Medical  Association,  Glasgow,  1888:  also  private  letters). 
Hammond  ("Treatise  on  Insanity,"  p.  114)  says:  '"I  have  certainly  noted 
in  some  of  my  friends  the  tendency  to  some  monthly  periodic  abnormal 
manifestations.  This  may  be  in  the  form  of  a  headache,  or  a  nasal 
hemorrhage,  or  a  diarrhea,  or  abundant  discharge  of  uric  acid,  or  some 
other  unusual  occurrence.  I  think,"  he  adds,  "this  is  much  more  com- 
mon than  is  ordinarily  supposed,  and  a  careful  examination  or  inquiry 
will  generally,  if  not  invariably,  establish  the  existence  of  a  periodicity 
of  the  character  referred  to." 

Dr.  Harry  Campbell,  in  his  book  on  "Differences  in  the  Xervous 
Organizations  of  ]Men  and  Women,"  deals  fully  with  the  monthly  rhythm 
(pp.  270  et  seq.),  and  devotes  a  short  chapter  to  the  question  "Is  the 
Menstrual  Rhythm  peculiar  to  the  Female  Sex?"  He  brings  forward 
a  few  pathological  cases  indicating  such  a  rhythm,  but  although  lie  had 
written  a  letter  to  the  Lancet,  asking  medical  men  to  supply  him  with 
evidence  bearing  on  this  question,  it  can  scarcely  be  said  that  he  has 
brought  forward  much  evidence  of  a  convincing  kind,  and  such  as  he 
has  brought  forward  is  purely  pathological.  He  believes,  however,  that 
we  may  accept  a  monthly  cycle  in  men.  "We  may,"  he  concludes, 
"regard  the  human  being— both  male  and  female — as  the  subject  of  a 
monthly  pulsation  which  begins  with  the  beginning  of  life  and  continues 
till  death,"  menstruation  being  regarded  as  a  function  accidentally  in- 
grafted upon  this  primordial  rhythm. 

It   is   not    unreasonable    to    argue    that   the    possibility    of   such    a 
menstrual  cvcle  is  increased  if  we  can  believe  tliat  in  women  also  the 


70  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

menstrual  cycle  persists  even  when  its  outward  manifestations  no  longer 
occur.  Aetius  said  that  menstrual  changes  take  place  during  gestation; 
in  more  modern  times  Bufl'on  was  of  the  same  opinion.  Laycock  also 
maintained  that  menstrual  changes  take  place  during  pregnancy  ("Xerv- 
ous  Diseases  of  Women,"  p.  47).  Fliess  considers  that  it  is  certainly  in- 
correct to  assert  that  the  menstrual  process  is  arrested  during  pregnancy, 
and  he  refers  to  the  frequency  of  monthly  epistaxis  and  other  nasal 
symptoms  throughout  this  period  (W.  Fliess,  ''Beziehungen  zwischen 
Kase  und  Geschlechts-Organen,"  pp.  44  ct  seq.).  Beard,  who  attaches 
importance  to  the  persistence  of  a  cyclical  period  in  gestation,  calls  it 
the  muffled  striking  of  the  clock.  Harry  Campbell  ("Causation  of  Dis- 
eases," p.  54)  lias  found  post-climatteric  menstrual  rhythm  in  a  fair 
sprinkling  of  cases  up  to  the  age  of  sixty. 

It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that,  so  far  as  I  have  observed, 
none  of  these  authors  refer  to  the  possibility  of  any  heightening 
of  the  sexual  appetite  at  the  monthly  crisis  which  they  believe 
to  exist  in  men.  This  omission  indicates  that,  as  is* suggested  by 
the  absence  of  definite  statements  on  the  matter  of  increase  of 
sexual  desire  at  menstruation,  it  was  an  ignored  or  unknown  fact. 
Of  recent  years,  however,  many  writers,  especially  alienists,  have 
stated  their  conviction  that  sexual  desire  in  men  tends  to  be 
heightened  at  approximately  monthly  intervals.  They  have, 
however,  generally  been  unable  to  give  definite  evidence  in  sup- 
port of  their  statements. 

Clouston,  for  instance,  has  frequently  asserted  this  montlily  periodic 
sexual  heightening  in  men.  In  the  article  "Developmental  Insanity," 
in  Tuke'a  "Psychological  Dictionary,"  he  refers  to  the  periodic  physio- 
logical heightening  of  the  reproductive  nisus;  and,  again,  in  an  article 
on  "Alternation,  Periodicity,  and  Relapse  in  INIental  Diseases"  (Edin- 
hurgh  Medical  Journal,  July,  1882),  he  records  the  case  of  "an  insane 
gentleman,  aged  49,  who,  for  the  past  twenty-six  years,  has  been  sub- 
ject to  the  most  regularly  occurring  brain-exaltation  every  four  weeks 
almost  to  a  day.  It  sometimes  passes  ofT  without  becoming  acutely 
maniacal  or  even  showing  itself  in  outward  acts;  at  other  limes  it 
becomes  so,  and  lasts  for  periods  of  from  one  to  four  weeks.  It  is  always 
preceded  by  an  uncomfortable  feeling  in  the  head  and  pain  in  the  back, 
mental  hebetude,  and  sliglit  depression.  Tlie  uisusi  iicncraHriis  is  greatly 
increased,  and  lie  says  tliat,  if  in  that  condition  he  lias  full  and  free 
seminal  emissions  during  sleep,  the  excitement  ])asses  off;  if  not,  it  goes 
on.  A  full  dose  of  liromide  or  iodide  of  potassium  often,  but  not  always, 
has  the  effect  of  stopping  the  excitement,  and  a  very  long  walk  some- 


THE   PHENOMENA    OF    SEXUAL    PERIODICITY.  71 

times  does  the  same.  When  the  excitement  gets  to  a  heiglit,  it  is  always 
followed  by  about  a  week  of  stupid  depression."  In  the  same  article 
Clouston  remarks:  "I  have  for  a  long  time  been  impressed  with  the  rela- 
tionship of  the  mental  and  bodily  alternations  and  periodicities  in 
insanity  to  the  great  physiological  alternations  and  periodicities,  and  I 
have  generally  been  led  to  the  conclusion  that  they  are  the  same  in  all 
essential  respects,  and  only  differ  in  degree  of  intensity  or  duration.  By 
far  the  majority  of  the  cases  in  women  follow  the  law  of  the  menstrual 
and  sexual  periodicity;  the  majority  of  the  cases  in  men  follow  the  law 
of  the  more  irregular  periodicities  of  the  nisiis  generativus  in  that  sex. 
Many  of  the  cases  in  both  sexes  follow  the  seasonal  periodicity  which 
perhaps  in  man  is  merely  a  reversion  to  the  seasonal  generative  activities 
of  the  majority  of  the  lower  animals."  He  found  that  among  338  cases 
of  insanity,  chiefly  mania  and  melancholia,  46  per  cent,  of  females  and 
40  per  cent,  of  males  showed  periodicity, — diurnal,  monthly,  seasonal,  or 
annual,  and  more  marked  in  women  than  in  men  and  in  mania  than  in 
melancholia, — and  adds:  "I  found  that  the  younger  the  patient,  the 
greater  is  the  tendency  to  periodic  remission  and  relapse.  The  phenome- 
non finds  its  acme  in  the  cases  of  pubescent  and  adolescent  insanity." 

Conolly  Norman,  in  the  article  "Mania,  Hysterical"  (Tuke's  "Psy- 
chological Dictionarv-"),  states  that  "the  activity  of  the  sexual  organs  is 
probably  in  both  sexes  fundamentally  periodic." 

It  is  in  the  domain  of  disease  that  the  most  strenuous  and, 
on  the  whole,  the  most  successful  efforts  have  been  made  to  dis- 
cover a  menstrual  cycle  in  men.  Such  a  field  seems  promising 
at  the  outset,  for  many  morbid  exaggerations  or  defects  of  the 
nervous  system  might  be  expected  to  emphasize,  or  to  free  from 
inhibition,  fundamental  rhythmical  processes  of  the  organism 
which  in  health,  and  under  the  varying  conditions  of  social  ex- 
istence, are  overlaid  by  the  higher  mental  activities  and  the  press- 
ure of  external  stimuli.  Thus,  many  writers  have  brought  for- 
ward evidence,  especially  in  the  domain  of  nervous  and  mental 
disease,  which  seems  to  justify  a  belief  that,  under  pathological 
conditions,  a  tendency  to  a  male  menstrual  rhythm  might  be 
clearly  laid  bare. 

"We  should  expect  an  organ  so  primitive  in  character  as  the 
heart,  and  with  so  powerful  a  rhythm  already  stamped  upon  its 
nervous  organization,  to  be  peculiarly  apt  to  display  a  menstrual 
rhythm  under  the  stress  of  abnormal  conditions.  This  expecta- 
tion might  be  strengthened  by  the  menstrual  rhythm  which  Mr. 


72  PSYCHOLOGY   OF    SEX. 

Perry-Coste  has  found  reason  to  suspect  in  piilse-freqiiency  dur- 
ing health.  I  am  able  to  present  a  case  in  which  such  a  perio- 
dicity seems  to  be  indicated.  It  is  that  of  a  gentleman  who  suffered 
severely  for  some  years  before  his  death  from  valvular  disease  of 
the  heart,  with  a  tendency  to  pulmonary  congestion,  and  attacks 
of  "cardiac  asthma. '^  His  wife,  a  lady  of  great  intelligence,  kept 
notes  of  her  husband's  condition,  and  at  last  observed  that  there 
was  a  certain  periodicity  in  the  occurrence  of  the  exacerbations. 
The  periods  were  not  quite  regular,  but  show  a  curious  tendency 
to  recur  at  about  thirty  days'  interval,  a  few  days  before  the  end 
of  every  month.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  subject  showed  a 
tendency  to  periodicity  when  in  health,  and  once  remarked  laugh- 
ingly before  his  illness:  "I  am  just  like  a  woman,  always  most 
excitable  at  a  particular  time  of  the  month." 

I  here  reproduce  the  notes:  — 

"On  July  31,  1896,  after  a  spell  of  very  hot  and  trying  weather, 
and  after  feeling  very  seedy  for  several  days,  my  husband  began  to 
have  very  bad  nights.  For  the  first  five  days  of  August  he  got  prac- 
tically no  sleep  at  night,  but  spent  the  time  wandering  about.  On 
August  Gth  severe  rheumatic  pains  in  the  left  shoulder  came  on  in  the 
evening,  lasting  all  night.  The  nights  of  7th  and  8th  were  spent  in 
agony,  the  pain  dying  away  in  the  day-time.  On  the  evening  of  the 
9th  he  was  given  an  injection  of  moi^phia,  which  completely  removed 
the  pain. 

"Though  feeling  far  from  well,  my  husband  went  on  with  his  work 
till  the  20th,  when  he  became  seriously  ill.  That  day  was  passed  in 
alternate  fits  of  gasping  for  breath  and  what  was  almost  coma.  He 
was  very  ill  till  the  31st,  with  difficulty  of  breathing,  some  congelation 
of  the  left  lung,  and  long  intervals  of  a  sort  of  state  which  I  hardly 
know  how  to  describe, — a  state  between  sleep  and  unconsciousness.  He 
got  better  after  the  1st:  the  congestion  ceased,  and  the  comatose  state 
passed  off,  but  he  was  troubled  with  fainting  fits  and  attacks  of  gasping 
for  breath,  generally  occurring  in  the  afternoon  or  evening,  but  not 
more  than  one  in  twenty-four  hours. 

"On  the  24th  of  September,  however,  he  had  no  fewer  than  three 
fainting  fits. 

"On  the  25th.— One  fainting  fit. 

"On  the  28th.— One  fainting  fit. 

"On  the  30th.— Great  difiiculty  in  breathing. 

"October  1st. — Great  difficulty  in  breathing. 


THE    PHENOMENA    OF    SEXUAL    PERIODICITY.  73 

"3d. — Much  better.    Very  fairly  well  till  the 

"25th,  when  he  fainted  in  the  carriage  while  we  were  driving. 

'•'26th. — Two  fainting  fits.     Fairly   well   comparatively   till 

"November  24th. — Pulse  high  all  day,  breathing  very  labored. 

"25th. — Breathing  very  troublesome. 

"27th. — Very  seedy  all  day;    pulse  high;    half-asleep. 

"29th. — Breathing  vein'  bad. 

"30th.— Breathing  very  difficult. 

"December  2d. — Half-asleep  all  day,  but  breathing  easier. 

"3d.— Better. 

"4th. — A  terrible  night,  acute  congestion  of  both  lungs  lasting  three 
hours. 

"oth. — Second  attack  of  congestion.    Breathing  very  difficult  all  day. 

"Much  better  on  the  whole,  till 

"26th. — Very  nervous. 

"27th. — Greatly  troubled  with  indigestion;    breathing  troublesome. 

"1897.^ — There  Mas  such  a  decided  improvement  in  January  that 
he  decided  to  go  back  to  work  at  the  beginning  of  February. 

"January  26th. — Breathing  rather  difficult. 

"29th.— Breathing  rather  difficult.     Pulse,  120. 

"February. — Was  not  such  a  good  month,  but  no  ver^^  bad  symp- 
toms till 

"25th. — ^Yas  seized  in  the  night  with  acute  congestion  lasting  three 
hours.     Pulse,  150. 

"26th. — Breathing  troublesome. 

"27th. — Breathing  troublesome. 

"28th. — Breathing  troublesome  occasionally. 

"Better,  but  not  very  well,  till 

"March  8th. — Acute  congestion  in  the  night,  lasting  about  an  hour. 

"'9th. — At  11  P.M.  attack  of  congestion. 

"Fairly   uell   till 

"26th. — Very  drowsy  all  day,  great  pains  in  arms  and  across  chest. 
A  little  feverish. 

"April  27th. — Xot  at  all  well;    pulse  very  variable;    felt  sick  all  day. 

"29th. — Felt  seedy  and  sick  all  day;  A^ery  nervous;  not  at  all  well 
till  May  3d,  when  improved  till 

"May  21st. — Acute  congestion  at  3  A.^r.  to  5. 

"26th. — Breathing  troublesome  all  day. 

"June  25th. — Bad  night;  breath  troublesome;  slight  crackling 
sound  in  lungs.  Pulse.  120.  Not  at  all  well  till  July  5th,  then  fairly 
well  till 

"July  22d. — Bad  night;  shortness  of  breath:  pain  in  arms  and  pain 
and  tightness  across  chest. 

"23d. — A  good  deal  of  shortness  of  breath ;    not  well  till  29th. 


74  PSYCHOLOGY   OF    SEX. 

"August  was  a  very  good  month. 
"August  26th. — A  little  shortness  of  breath. 
"27th. — A  little  shortness  of  breath.     Xausea. 
"28th. — Feelings  of  light-headedness. 

"September  was  a  good  month,  no  very  marked  symptoms. 
"October   21st. — Great   drowsiness   all   day,   pain   across   chest   and 
shoulders,  relieved  by  ether. 

"25th. — Very  drowsy,  a  good  deal  of  panting. 
"26th. — A  little  panting  occasionally. 
"28th. — A  little  panting  several  times  in  night. 
"29th. — Panting  and  shortness  of  breath. 

"On  November  1st  he  got  some  news  which  greatly  excited  him, 
and,  whether  as  the  result  or  not,  was  a  good  deal  troubled  with  panting 
and  shortness  of  breath  till 

"November  14th. — Attack  of  congestion  4.30  a.m.  to  5.30.  Pulse 
very  weak,  140.    Rather  a  bad  month  all  through. 

"25th. — Slight  congestion  6.30  A.:\r.  to  8;  great  pain  in  arms,  chest, 
and  shoulders. 

"26th. — Breathing  very  troublesome.     Pulse  very  rapid  all  night. 

"27th. — Felt  ver}'  sick  nearly  all  day. 

"28th. — Very  nervous. 

"29th. — Breathing  troublesome. 

"December  2d. — At  2.30  a.m.  woke  very  nervous;  pulse,  130:  slight 
congestion.     After  4th  health  greatly  improved  till 

"24th. — Woke  very  seedy;  hacking  cough;  brought  up  large  clots 
of  phlegm  stained  with  blood;    relieved  by  ether. 

"25th. — Drowsj^  but  no  other  bad  symptoms. 

"27th. — Breathing  a  little  troublesome;    fairly  well,  till 

"January  7th,  1898. — A  bad  night,  slight  crackling  sound  in  left 
lung,  relieved  by  ether. 

"8th. — Pain  in  arms,  much  panting  and  difficulty  in  breathing. 

"Very  fairly  well  till 

"25th.— Drowsy  all  day. 

"26th. — Woke  at  6  A.>r.  panting,  crackling  sound  in  left  lung;  very 
drowsy  all  day. 

"Very  fairly  well  from  28th  to 

"February  24th. — When  he  awoke  at  7,  with  ])ain  and  a  feeling  as 
of  an  iron  hand  across  the  chest.    Slight  sound  in  left  lung. 

"25th.— A  little  panting. 

"I  have  mentioned  'drowsiness'  whenever  it  occurred  in  the  diary, 
because  it  is  always  accompanied  by  irregular  breathing,  though  he  may 
not  be  conscious  himself  of  any  difliculty. 

"Since  May  21,  1897,  iodide  of  potassium  has  been  taken  regularly; 


THE   PHENOMENA    OF    SEXUAL    PERIODICITY.  75 

before  that  it  was  only  given  occasionally.  The  improvement  since  then 
in  the  general  health  has  been  very  great,  though  it  does  not  come  out 
very  clearly  in  the  diary.  The  dropsical  swelling  of  the  feet  is  much 
better,  and  is  always  worse  a  few  days  after  each  attack  of  congestion, 
getting  gradually  better  till  the  next  attack. 

"Our  life  has  been  reduced  to  the  lowest  possible  level  of  monotony 
and  regularity.  There  is  nothing  in  it  to  account  for  any  selection  of 
dates." 

[I  received  the  foregoing  notes  during  the  patient's  life.] 

"There  was  slight  congestion  of  left  lung  on  3d  and  4th  March,  but 
this  may  have  been  due  to  a  sudden  fall  in  the  temperature,  and  cold 
winds  on  1st  and  2d.  On  5th,  6th,  and  7th  nervousness,  shortness  of 
breath,  and  a  feeling  as  if  a  fit  of  congestion  were  coming  on. 

"A  very  good  montli  onward  to  24th,  when  again  'slight  congestion' 
is  down. 

"Very  fairly  well  till  April  23d." 

The  patient  died  on  the  25th  of  this  month. 

At  this  point  it  is  necessary  to  refer  to  an  investigation 
which,  although  of  very  limited  extent,  serves  to  place  the  ques- 
tion of  a  male  menstrual  cycle  for  the  first  time  on  a  sound  basis. 
If  there  is  such  a  cycle  analogous  to  menstruation  in  women,  it 
must  be  a  recurring  period  of  nervous  erethism,  and  it  must  be 
demonstrably  accompanied  by  greater  sexual  activity.  In  the 
American  Journal  of  Psychology  for  1888,  Mr.  Julius  Nelson, 
afterward  Professor  of  Biology  at  the  Eutgers  College  of  Agri- 
culture, New  Brunswick,  published  a  study  of  dreams  in  which 
he  recorded  the  results  of  detailed  observations  of  his  dreams, 
and  also  of  seminal  emissions  during  sleep  (by  him  termed 
"gonekbole"  or  "ecbole^'),  during  a  period  of  something  over  two 
vears.  Mr.  Nelson  found  that  both  dreams  and  ecboles  fell  into 
a  physiological  cycle  of  28  days.  The  climax  of  maximum  dream- 
ing (as  determined  by  the  number  of  words  in  the  dream  record) 
and  the  climax  of  maximum  ecbole  fell  at  the  same  point  of  the 
cycle,  the  ecbolic  climax  being  more  distinctly  marked  than  the 
dream  climax. 

The  question  of  cyclic  physiological  changes  is  considerably  com- 
plicated by  our  uncertainty  regarding  the  precise  length  of  the  cycle  we 


76  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

may  expect  to  find.  Nelson  finds  a  28-day  cycle  satisfactory.  Perry- 
Coste,  as  we  shall  see,  accepts  a  strictly  lunar  cycle  of  29  V2  days. 
Fliess  has  argued  that  in  both  women  and  men  many  physiological  facts 
fall  into  a  cycle  of  23  days,  Avhich  he  calls  male,  the  28-day  cycle  being 
female  (W.  Fliess,  "Die  Beziehungen  zwischen  Nase  und  weiblichen 
Geschlechts-Organen,"  1897,  pp.  113  et  seq.).  Although  Fliess  brings  for- 
Avard  a  number  of  minutely-observed  cases,  I  cannot  say  that  I  am  yet 
convinced  of  the  reality  of  this  23-day  cycle. 

It  is  somewhat  curious  that  at  the  same  time  as  Fliess,  though  in 
apparent  independence  and  from  a  different  point  of  view,  another 
worker  has  also  suggested  that  there  is  a  23-day  physiological  cycle 
(John  Beard,  "The  Span  of  Gestation  and  the  Cause  of  Birth,"  Jena, 
1897).  Beard  approaches  the  question  from  the  embryological  stand- 
point, and  argues  that  there  is  what  he  terms  an  "ovulation  unit"  of 
about  23  v.-  days,  in  the  interval  from  the  end  of  one  menstruation  to 
the  beginning  of  the  next.  Two  "ovulation  units"  make  up  one  "critical 
unit,"  and  the  length  of  pregnancy,  according  to  Beard,  is  always  a 
multiple  of  the  "critical  unit";  in  man  the  gestation  period  amounts  to 
six  critical  units. 

These  attempts  to  prove  a  new  physiological  cycle  deserv'e  careful 
study  and  further  investigation.  The  possibility  of  such  a  cycle  should 
be  borne  in  mind,  but  at  present  we  are  scarcely  entitled  to  accept  it. 


So  far  as  I  am  aware,  Professor  Xelson^s  ver}^  interesting 
series  of  observations,  which,  for  the  first  time,  placed  the  ques- 
tion of  a  menstrual  rhythm  in  men  on  a  soimd  and  workable 
basis,  have  not  directly  led  to  any  further  observations.  I  am, 
however,  in  possession  of  a  much  more  extended  series  of  ecbolic 
observations  completed  before  Mr.  Nelson's  paper  was  published, 
although  the  results  have  only  been  calculated  at  a  comparatively 
recent  date.  I  now  propose  to  present  a  summary  of  these  ob- 
servations, and  consider  how  far  thev  confirm  Mr.  Nelson's  con- 
elusions.  These  observations  cover  no  less  a  period  than  twelve 
years,  between  the  ages  of  17  and  29,  the  subject  beinc:  a  student, 
and  afterward  schoolmaster,  who  appears  to  have  led,  on  the 
whole,  a  chaste  life.  So  far  as  appears,  the  records  have  been 
faithfully  made  throughout  the  whole  of  this  long  period.  Here, 
if  anywhere,  should  be  material  for  the  construction  of  a  men- 
strual rhythm  on  an  ecbolic  basis.  While  the  results  are  in  many 
respects  instructive,  it  can  scarcely,  perhaps,  be  said  that  they 


THE    PHENOMENA    OF    SEXUAL    PERIODICITY.  77 

absolutely  demonstrate  a  monthly  cycle.  When  summated  in  a 
somewhat  similar  manner  to  that  adopted  by  Professor  Xelson 
in  his  ecbolic  observations,  it  is  not  difficult  to  regard  the  maxi- 
mum, which  is  reached  on  the  HUli  to  21st  days  of  the  summated 
physiological  month,  as  a  real  menstrual  ecbolic  climax,  for  no 
other  three  consecutive  days  at  all  approach  these  in  number  of 
ecboles,  while  there  is  a  marked  depression  occurring  four  days 
earlier,  on  the  IGth  day  of  the  month.  If,  however,  we  split  up 
the  curve  by  dividing  the  period  of  twelve  years  into  two  nearly 
equal  periods,  the  earlier  of  about  seven  years  and  the  latter  of 
about  four  years,  and  summate  these  separately,  the  two  curves 
do  not  present  any  parallel  as  regards  the  menstrual  cycle.  It 
scarcely  seems  to  me,  therefore,  that  these  curves  present  any 
convincing  evidence  in  this  case  of  a  monthly  ecbolic  cycle  (and, 
therefore,  I  refrain  from  reproducing  them),  although  they  seem 
to  suggest  such  a  cycle.  N^or  is  there  any  reason  to  suppose  that 
by  adopting  a  different  cycle  of  thirty  days,  or  of  twenty-three 
days,  any  more  conclusive  results  would  be  obtained. 

It  seems,  however,  when  we  look  at  these  curves  more 
closely,  that  they  are  not  wholly  without  significance.  If  I  am 
justified  in  concluding  that  they  scarcely  demonstrate  a  monthly 
cycle,  it  may  certainly  be  added  that  they  show  a  rudimentary 
tendency  for  the  ecboles  to  fall  into  a  fortnightly  rhythm,  and 
a  very  marked  and  unmistakable  tendency  to  a  weekly  rhythm. 
The  fortnight!}^  rhythm  is  shown  in  the  curve  for  the  earlier 
period,  but  is  somewhat  disguised  in  the  curve  for  the  total  period, 
because  the  first  climax  is  spread  over  two  days,  the  7th  and 
8th  of  the  month.  If  we  readjust  the  curve  for  the  total  period 
by  presenting  the  days  in  pairs,  the  fortnio-htly  tendency  is  more 
clearly  brought  out  (Chart  1). 

A  more  pronounced  tendency  still  is  traceable  to  a  weekly 
rhythm.  This  is,  indeed,  the  most  unquestionable  fact  brought 
out  by  these  curves.  All  the  maxima  occur  on  Saturday  or  Sun- 
day, with  the  minima  on  Tuesday,  Wednesday,  Thursday,  or 
Friday.  This  very  pronounced  weekly  rhythm  will  serve  to  swamp 
more  or  less  completely  any  monthly  rhythm  on  a  28-day  basis. 
Although  here  probably  seen  in  an  exaggerated  form,  it  is  almost 


78  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

certainly  a  characteristic  of  the  ecbolic  curve  generally.^  I  have 
been  told  by  several  young  men  and  women,  especially  those  who 
work  hard  during  the  week,  that  Saturday,  and  especially  Sun- 
day afternoon,  are  periods  when  the  thoughts  spontaneously  go 
in  an  erotic  direction,  and  at  this  time  there  is  a  special  tendency 
to  masturbation  or  to  spontaneous  sexual  excitement.  It  is  on 
Frida}',  Saturday,  Sunda}',  and  Monday,  according  to  Guerry's 
tables,^  that  the  fewest  suicides  are  committed,  Tuesday,  Wednes- 
day, and  Thursday,  with,  howev€r,  a  partial  fall  on  Wednes- 
day, those  on  which  most  suicides  are  committed,  so  that  there 
M'ould  appear  to  be  an  antagonism  between  sexual  activity  and 
the  desire  to  throw  off  life.  It  also  appears  (in  the  reports  of 
the  Bavarian  factory  inspectors)  that  accidents  in  factories  have 
a  tendency  to  occur  chiefly  at  the  beginning  of  the  week,  and 
toward  the  end  rather  than  in  the  middle.^  Even  growth,  as 
Fleischmann  has  shown  in  the  case  of  children,  tends  to  fall  into 
weekly  cycles.  It  is  evident  that  the  nervous  system  is  profoundly 
affected  by  the  social  influences  resulting  from  the  cosmic  week. 
The  analysis  of  this  series  of  ecbolic  curves  may  thus  be  said 
to  recall  the  suggestion  of  Laycock,  that  the  menstrual  cycle  is 
really  made  up  of  four  weekly  cycles,  the  periodic  unit,  accord- 
ing to  Laycock,  being  three  and  one-half  days.  I  think  it  would, 
however,  be  more  correct  to  say  that  the  menstrual  cycle,  per- 
haps originally  formed  with  reference  to  the  influence  of  the 
moon  on  the  sexual  and  social  habits  of  men  and  other  animals, 
tends  to  break  up  by  a  process  of  segmentarton  into  fortnightly 
and  weekly  cycles.  If  we  are  justifled  in  assuming  that  there  is 
a  male  menstrual  cycle,  we  must  conclude  that  in  such  a  case  as 
that  iust  analyzed  the  weekly  rhvthm  has  become  so  marked  as 
almost  entirely  to  obliterate  the  larixor  monthly  rhvthm. 


^  Moll  rofors  to  the  onse  of  a  man  wlinso  orotic  dronnis  oeoiirrod 
every  fortni^Mit,  and  always  on  Friday  ni<rht  ("Libido  Soxiialis,*"  B.  1, 
p.  130).  One  is  inclined  to  suspect  an  element  of  autosufrjjestion  in  such 
a  case:    si  ill   llie  coincidence  is  noteworthy. 

=  See   Durkheini,  "Le  Suicide."  p.  101.' 

'  We  must,  of  com'se.  see  here  the  results  of  the  disorf^anization  pro- 
duced ])y  holidiiys  and  the  exhaustion  })rodnc('d  by  the  week's  labor; 
but  such  influences  are  still  the  social  eflects  of  the  cosmic  week. 


THE    PHENOMENA    OF    SEXUAL    PERIODICITY.  79 

However  constituted,  there  seems  little  doubt  that  a  phys- 
iological weekly  cycle  really  exists.  This  was,  indeed,  very  clearly 
indicated  many  years  ago  by  the  observations  of  Edward  Smith, 
who  showed  that  there  are  weekly  rhythms  in  pulse,  respiration, 
temperature,  carbonic-acid  evolution,  urea,  and  body-weight, 
Sunday  being  the  great  day  of  repair  and  increase  of  weight.^ 

In  an  appendix  to  this  volume  I  am  able  to  present  the 
results  of  another  long  series  of  observations  of  nocturnal  ecbolic 
manifestations  carried  out  by  Mr.  Perry-Coste,  who  has  elabo- 
rately calculated  the  results,  and  has  convinced  himself  that  on 
the  basis  of  a  strictly  lunar  month,  thus  abolishing  the  disturbing 
influence  of  the  weekly  rhythm,  which  in  his  case  also  appears, 
a  real  menstrual  rhythm  may  be  traced.^ 

It  does  not  appear  to  me,  however,  even  yet  that  a  final 
answer  to  the  question  that  a  menstrual  sexual  rhythm  occurs  in 
men  can  be  decisively  given  in  the  affirmative.  That  such  a 
cycle  will  be  proved  in  many  cases  seems  to  me  highly  probable, 
but  before  this  can  be  decisivelv  affirmed  it  is  necessarv  that  a 
much  larger  number  of  persons  should  be  induced  to  carry  out 
on  themselves  the  simple,  but  protracted,  series  of  observations 
that  are  required.^ 


^  E.  Smith.  "Health  and  Disease,"  Chapter  III.  I  may  remark  that, 
according  to  Kemsoes  (Deutsche  medicinische  Wochenschrift,  January 
20,  1898,  and  British  Medical  Journal,  January  29,  1898),  school-children 
work  best  on  Monday  and  Tuesday. 

^  See  Appendix  B. 

^  The  observation  of  seminal  emissions  during  sleep,  with  or  without 
dreams,  as  first  adopted  bp  Professor  Nelson,  seems  to  be  the  most  satis- 
factory method  of  testing  the  existence  of  a  n.enstrual  rhythm.,  provided 
that  there  is  a  fairly  complete  degree  of  continence  during  waking  life. 
A  record  of  acts  of  masturbation,  or  of  such  acts  combined  with  the 
nocturnal  ecboles.  might  reasonably  be  used  as  a  basis,  but  a  record  of 
normal  coitus,  whether  in  or  out  of  marriage,  would  be  of  less  value  in 
determining  a  male  menstrual  rhythm  (though  possibly  useful  in  deter- 
mining an  annual  rhythm),  because  the  spontaneity  is  here  liable  to  be 
inhibited  by  extrinsic  circumstances.  It  would  be  an  advantage  if  such 
records  could  be  kept  concurrently  with  the  records  of  other  physiological 
functions  of  the  organism,  such  as  the  pulse-frequency  and  the  tempera- 
ture. "Whether  the  physiological  month  of  28  days,  the  lunar  month  of 
29  days,  or  some  other  period  should  be  used  as  a  measure  of  the  possible 
periodic  vibration,  every  observer  must  decide  for  himself. 


III. 

The  Annual  Sexual  Elivthni — In  Animals — In  Men — Tendency  of 
the  Sexual  Impulse  to  become  Heightened  in  Spring  and  Autumn — The 
Prevalence  of  Seasonal  Erotic  Festivals — The  Feast  of  Fools — The  Easter 
and  Midsummer  Bon-fires — The  Seasonal  Variations  in  Birth-rate — The 
Causes  of  those  Variations — The  Typical  Conception-rate  Curve  for 
Europe — The  Seasonal  Periodicity  of  Seminal  Emissions  during  Sleep — 
Original  Observations — Spring  and  Autumn  the  Chief  Periods  of  Involun- 
tary Sexual  Excitement — The  Seasonal  Periodicity  of  Rapes — Of  Out- 
breaks amonor  Prisoners — The  Seasonal  Curses  of  Insanitv  and  Suicide — 
The  growth  of  Children  According  to  Season — The  Annual  Curve  of 
Bread-consumption  in  Prisons — Seasonal  Periodicity  of  Scarlet  Fever — 
The  Underlying  Causes  of  these  Seasonal  Phenomena. 

That  there  are  annual  seasonal  changes  in  the  human  or- 
ganism, especially  connected  with  the  sexual  function,  is  a  state- 
ment that  has  been  made  bv  physiolosfists  and  others  from  time 
to  time,  and  the  statement  has  even  reached  the  poets,  who  have 
frequentW  declared  that  spring  is  the  season  of  love. 

Thus,  sixty  years  ago.  Laycock.  an  acute  pioneer  in  the  investiga- 
tion of  the  working  of  the  human  organism,  brought  together  (in  a 
chapter  on  "The  Periodic  Movements  in  the  Reproductive  Organs  of 
Woman,"  in  his  "Xervous  Diseases  of  Women,"  1840.  pp.  61-70)  much 
interesting  evidence  to  show  that  the  system  undergoes  changes  about 
the  vernal  and  autumnal  equinoxes,  and  that  these  changes  are  largely 
sexual. 

Edward  Smith,  also  a  notable  pioneer  in  this  field  of  human  peri- 
odicity, and,  indeed,  the  first  to  make  definite  observations  on  a  number 
of  points  bearing  on  it.  sums  up,  in  his  remarkable  book.  "Healtli  and 
Disease  as  Influenced  by  Daily,  Seasonal,  and  Other  CAclical  Changes  in 
the  Human  System"  (1861),  to  the  effect  that  season  is  a  more  powerful 
influence  on  the  system  than  temperature  or  atmospheric  pressure;  "in 
the  early  and  middle  parts  of  spring  every  function  of  the  body  is  in 
its  highest  degree  of  efficiency,"  while  autumn  is  "essentially  a  period  of 
change   from   the   minimum   toward   the   maximum   of  vital   conditions." 

(80) 


THE    PHENOMENA    OF    SEXUAL    PERIODICITY.  81 

He  found  that  in  April  and  May  most  carbonic  acid  is  evolved,  there 
being  then  a  progressive  diminution  to  September,  and  then  a  progressive 
increase;  the  respiratory  rate  also  fell  from  a  maximum  in  April  to  a 
minimum  maintained  at  exactly  the  same  level  throughout  August,  Sep- 
tember, October,  and  November;  spring  was  found  to  be  the  season  of 
maximum,  autumn  of  minimum,  muscular  power;  sensibility  to  tactile 
and  temperature  impressions  was  also  greater  in  spring. 

Kulischer,  studying  the  sexual  customs  of  various  liuman  races, 
concluded  that  in  primitive  times  only  at  two  special  seasons — at  spring 
and  in  harvest-time — did  pairing  take  place;  and  that,  when  pairing 
ceased  to  be  strictly  confined  to  these  periods,  its  symbolical  representa- 
tion was  still  so  confined,  even  among  the  civilized  nations  of  Europe, 
He  further  argued  that  the  physiological  impulse  was  only  felt  at  these 
periods.  (Kulischer,  "Die  geschlechtliche  Zuchtwahl  bei  den  Menschen  in 
der  Urzeit,"  ZeitscJirift  fiir  Ethnologic,  1876,  pp.  152  and  157.) 

Wiltshire,  who  made  various  interesting  observations  regarding  the 
physiology  of  menstruation,  wrote:  "Many  years  ago  I  concluded  that 
every  woman  had  a  law  peculiar  to  herself,  which  governed  the  times 
of  her  bringing  forth  (and  conceiving) ;  that  she  was  more  prone  to 
bring  forth  at  certain  epochs  than  at  others;  and  subsequent  researches 
have  established  the  accuracy  of  the  forecast."  He  further  stated  his 
belief  in  a  "primordial  seasonal  aptitude  for  procreation,  the  impress  of 
which  still  remains,  and,  to  some  extent,  governs  the  breeding-times  of 
humanity."  (A.  Wiltshire,  "Lectures  on  the  Comparative  Physiology  of 
Menstruation,"  British  Medical  Journal,  March,  1883,  pp.  502,  etc.) 

W^estermarck,  in  a  chapter  of  his  "History  of  Human  Marriage" 
dealing  with  the  question  of  "A  Human  Pairing  Season  in  Primitive 
Times,"  brings  forward  evidence  showing  that  spring,  or  rather  early 
summer,  is  the  time  for  increase  of  the  sexual  instinct,  and  argues  that 
this  is  a  survival  of  an  ancient  pairing  season;  spring,  he  points  out, 
is  a  season  of  want  rather  than  abundance  for  a  frugivorous  species,  but, 
when  men  took  to  herbs,  roots,  and  animal  food,  spring  became  a  time 
of  abundance,  and  suitable  for  the  birth  of  children.  He  thus  considers 
that  in  man,  as  in  lower  animals,  the  times  of  conception  are  governed 
by  the  times  most  suitable  for  birth. 

Rosenstadt,  as  we  shall  see  later,  also  believes  that  men  to-day 
have  inherited  a  physiological  custom  of  procreating  at  a  certain  epoch, 
and  he  thus  accounts  for  the  seasonal  changes  in  the  birth-rate. 

Heape,  who  also  believes  that  "at  one  period  of  its  existence  the 
human  species  had  a  special  breeding  season,"  follows  Wiltshire  in  sug- 
gesting that  "there  is  some  reason  to  believe  that  the  human  female  is 
not  always  in  a  condition  to  breed."  (W.  Heape,  "Menstruation  and 
Ovulation  of  Macacus  Rhesns,"  "Philosophical  Transactions,"  vol. 
clxxxviii,  1897.) 

6 


82  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

Except,  however,  in  one  important  respect,  with  which  we 
shall  presently  have  to  deal,  few  attempts  have  been  made  to 
demonstrate  an}'  annual  organic  rhythm.  The  supposition  of 
such  annual  cycle  is  usually  little  more  than  a  deduction  from 
the  existence  of  the  well-marked  seasonal  sexual  rhythm  in  ani- 
mals. Most  of  the  hio:her  animals  breed  only  once  or  twice  a 
3'ear,  and  at  such  a  period  that  the  young  are  born  when  food 
is  most  plentiful.  At  other  periods  the  female  is  incapable  of 
breeding,  and  without  sexual  desires,  while  the  male  is  either  in 
the  same  condition  or  in  a  condition  of  latent  sexuality.  Under 
the  influence  of  domestication,  animals  tend  to  lose  the  strict 
periodicity  of  the  wild  condition,  and  become  apt  for  breeding  at 
more  frequent  intervals.  Thus  among  dogs  in  the  wild  state 
the  bitch  only  experiences  heat  once  a  year,  in  the  spring. 
Among  domesticated  dogs,  there  is  not  only  the  spring  period 
of  heat,  usually  about  May,  but  also  an  autumn  period,  about 
six  months  later;  but  the  primitive  period,  however,  remains 
the  most  important  one,  and  the  best  litters  of  pups  are  pro- 
duced in  the  spring.^  [Many  of  the  menstruating  monke3's  also, 
whether  or  not  sexual  desire  is  present  throughout  the  year,  only 
conceive  in  spring  and  in  autumn.  Almost  any  time  of  the  year 
may  be  an  animal's  pairing  season,  this  season  being  apparently 
in  part  determined  by  the  economic  conditions  which  will  pre- 
vail at  birth.  While  it  is  essential  that  animals  should  be  born 
during  the  season  of  greatest  abundance,  it  is  equally  essential 
that  pairing,  which  involves  great  expenditure  of  energy,  should 
also  take  place  at  a  season  of  maximum  physical  vigor. 

A?;  an  example  of  tlie  sexual  histors'^  of  an  animal  throu<;]i  the 
year.  T  may  quote  the  following  description  by  Dr.  A.  W.  Johnstone 
of  the  habits  of  the  American  deer:  "Our  common  American  deer  in 
wintertime  is  half-starved  for  lack  of  vcfjetation  in  the  woods;  the  low 
temperalurc.  snow,  and  ice  make  his  conditions  of  life  harder  for  lack 
of  the  proper  amount  of  food,  whereby  he  becomes  an  easier  prey  to 
carnivorous  animals.  He  has  difficulty  even  in  ))roservinfj  life.  Tn  sprinj]^ 
he  sheds  his  winter  coat  and  is  provided  with  a  suit  of  lipfhter  hair,  and 
while  this  is  goincf  on   the  male  prows  antlers  for  defence.     The  female 


Dalziel,  "The  Collie." 


THE    PHENOMENA    OF    SEXUAL    TERIODICITY.  83 

about  this  time  is  far  along  in  ])rognancy,  and  wlien  tlie  antlers  are 
fully  grown  she  drops  the  fawn.  \\'hen  the  fawns  are  dropped  vegetation 
is  plentiful  and  lactation  sets  in.  During  this  time  the  male  is  kept 
fully  employed  in  getting  food  and  guarding  his  more  or  less  helpless 
family.  As  the  season  advances  the  vegetation  increases  and  the  fawn 
begins  to  eat  grass.  When  the  summer  heat  commences  the  little  streams 
begin  to  dry  up,  and  the  animal  once  more  has  ditliculty  in  supporting 
life  because  of  the  enervating  heat,  the  effect  of  drought  on  the  vegeta- 
tion, and  the  distance  Avhich  has  to  be  traveled  to  get  water;  therefore 
fully  ten  months  in  each  year  the  deer  has  all  he  can  do  to  live  without 
extra  exertion  incident  to  rutting.  Soon  after  the  autumn  rains  com- 
mence vegetation  becomes  more  luxurious,  the  antlers  of  the  male  and 
new  suits  of  hair  for  both  are  fully  grown,  heat  of  the  summer  is  gone, 
food  and  drink  are  plentiful  everywhere,  the  fawns  are  weaned,  and  both 
sexes  are  in  the  very  finest  condition.  Then  and  then  only  in  the  whole 
year  comes  the  rut,  Avhich  to  them,  as  to  most  other  animals,  means  an 
unwonted  amount  of  physical  exercise  besides  the  every-day  runs  for  life 
from  their  natural  enemies,  and  an  unusual  amount  of  energy  is  used 
up.  If  a  doe  dislikes  the  attention  of  a  special  buck,  miles  of  racing 
result.  If  jealous  males  meet,  furious  battles  take  place.  The  strain  on 
both  sexes  could  not  possibly  be  endured  at  any  other  season  of  the 
year.  With  approach  of  cold  weather  climatic  deprivations  and  winter 
dangers  commence  and  rut  closes.  In  all  wild  animals  rut  occurs  only 
when  the  climatic  and  other  conditions  favor  the  highest  physical  de- 
velopment. This  law  holds  good  in  all  wild  birds,  for  it  is  then  only 
that  they  can  stand  the  strain  incident  to  love-making.  The  common 
American  crow  is  a  very  good  study.  In  the  winter  he  travels  around 
the  rice-fields  of  the  South,  leading  a  tramp's  existence  in  a  country 
foreign  to  him,  and  to  which  he  goes  only  to  escape  the  rigors  of  the 
northern  climate.  For  several  weeks  in  the  spring  he  goes  about  the 
fields  gathering  up  the  worms  and  grubs.  After  his  long  flight  from  the 
South  he  experiences  several  weeks  of  an  almost  ideal  existence,  his  food 
is  plentiful,  he  becomes  strong  and  hearty,  and  then  he  turns  to  thoughts 
of  love.  In  the  pairing  season  he  does  more  work  than  at  any  other  time 
in  the  year:  fantastic  dances,  racing  and  chasing  after  the  females,  and 
savage  fights  \\ith  rivals.  He  endures  more  than  would  be  possible  in 
his  ordinarv  phvsical  state.  Then  come  the  care  of  the  voung  and  the 
long  flights  for  water  and  food  during  the  drought  of  the  summer.  After 
the  molt  autumn  finds  him  once  more  in  flock,  and  with  the  first  frosts 
he  is  off  again  to  the  South.  In  the  wild  state  rut  is  the  cap-stone  of 
perfect  physical  condition."  (A.  W.  Johnstone,  "The  Relation  of  Men- 
struation to  the  other  Reproductive  Functions,"  American  Journal  of 
Ohstefrics.  vol,  xxxii.  1895.) 

Wiltshire   ("Lectures  on  the  Comparative  Physiology  of  Menstrua- 


84  PSYCHOLOGY   OF    SEX. 

tion,"  British  Medical  Journal,  March,  1888)  and  Westermarck  ("His- 
tory of  Human  Marriage,"  Chapter  11)  enumerate  the  pairing  season  of 
a  number  of  diti'erent  animals. 

With  regard  to  the  breeding  seasons  of  monkeys  little  seems  to  be 
positively  known.  Heape  made  special  inquiries  with  reference  to  the 
two  species  whose  sexual  life  he  investigated.  He  was  informed  that 
iScntHOijitliccus  entclliis  breeds  twice  a  year,  in  April  and  in  October. 
He  accepts  Aitcheson's  statement  that  the  Macacus  rhesus  in  Simla 
copulates  in  October,  and  adds  that  in  the  very  dilierent  climate  of  the 
plains  it  appears  to  copulate  in  May,  He  concludes  that  the  breeding 
season  varies  greatly  in  dependence  on  climate,  but  believes  that  the 
breeding  season  is  always  preserved,  and  that  it  atl'ects  the  sexual  apti- 
tude of  the  male.  He  could  not  make  his  monkeys  copulate  during 
February  and  March,  but  is  unable  to  say  whether  or  not  sexual  inter- 
course is  generally  admitted  outside  the  breeding  season.  He  quotes  the 
observation  of  Breschet  tluit   monkeys  copulate  during  pregnancy. 

In  primitive  human  races  we  very  frequently  trace  pre- 
cisely the  same  influence  of  the  seasonal  impulse  as  may  be  wit- 
nessed in  the  higher  animals,  although  among  human  races  it 
does  not  always  result  that  the  children  are  born  at  the  time  of 
the  greatest  plenty,  and  on  account  of  the  development  of  human 
skill  such  a  result  is  not  necessary.  Thus  Dr.  Cook  found  among 
the  Esqtiimaux  that  during  the  long  winter  nights  the  secretions 
are  diminished,  muscular  power  is  weak,  and  the  passions  are  de- 
pressed. Soon  after  the  sun  appears  a  kind  of  rut  affects  the 
young  population.  They  tremble  with  the  intensity  of  sexual 
passion,  and  for  several  weeks  much  of  the  time  is  taken  up  with 
courtship  and  love.  Hence,  the  majority  of  the  children  are  born 
nine  months  later,  when  the  four  months  of  perpetual  night  are 
beginning.  A  marked  seasonal  periodicity  of  this  kind  is  not 
confined  to  the  Arctic  regions.  We  may  also  find  it  in  the  tropics. 
In  Cambodia,  ^londiere  has  found  that  twice  a  year,  in  April 
and  September,  men  seem  to  experience  a  ''veritable  rut,"  and 
will  sometimes  even  kill  women  who  resist  them.^ 

These  two  periods,  spring  and  autumn — the  season  for  greet- 
ing the  appcariince  of  life  and  the  season  for  reveling  in  its  final 


'  Mondiero,  art.  "Cambodgiens,"  "Diolionnaire  dos  Scioncos  Anthro- 
pologiquos." 


THE    niEXOMENA    OF    SEXUAL    PERIODICITY.  85 

fruition — seem  to  be  everywhere  throughout  the  world  the  most 
usual  seasons  for  erotic  festivals.  In  classical  Greece  and  Rome, 
in  India,  among  the  Indians  of  Xorth  and  South  America,  spring 
is  the  most  usual  season,  while  in  Africa  the  yam  harvest  of 
autumn  is  the  season  chiefly  selected.  There  are,  of  course, 
numerous  exceptions  to  this  rule,  and  it  is  common  to  find  both 
seasons  observed.  Taking,  indeed,  a  broad  view  of  festivals 
throughout  the  world,  we  may  say  that  there  are  four  seasons 
when  they  are  held:  the  winter  solstice,  when  the  days  begin  to 
lengthen  and  primitive  man  rejoices  in  the  lengthening  and 
seeks  to  assist  it;^  the  vernal  equinox,  the  period  of  germination 
and  the  return  of  life;  the  summer  solstice,  w^hen  the  sun  reaches 
its  height;  and  autumn,  the  period  of  fruition,  of  thankfulness, 
and  of  repose.  But  it  is  rarely  that  we  find  a  people  seriously 
celebrating  more  than  two  of  these  festival  seasons. 

In  Australia,  according  to  Milller,  as  quoted  by  Ploss  and 
Bartels,  marriage  and  conception  take  place  during  the  warm 
season,  when  there  is  greatest  abundance  of  food,  and,  to  some 
extent,  is  even  confined  to  that  period.  Oldfield  and  others  state 
that  the  Australian  erotic  festivals  take  place  only  in  spring. 
Among  some  tribes.  Miiller  adds,  such  as  the  AYatschandis,  con- 
ception is  inagairated  by  a  festival  called  Icaaro,  which  takes  place 
in  the  warm  season  at  the  first  new  moon  after  the  yams  are  ripe. 
The  leading  feature  of  this  festival  is  a  moonlight  dance,  repre- 
senting the  sexual  act  symbolically.  With  their  spears,  regarded 
as  the  symbols  of  the  male  organ,  the  men  attack  bushes,  which 
represent  the  female  organs.     They  thus  work  themselves  up  to 


"  This  primitive  aspect  of  the  festival  is  well  shown  by  the  human 
sacrifiees  which  the  ancient  Mexicans  offered  at  this  time,  in  order  to 
enable  the  sun  to  recuperate  his  strength.  The  custom  survives  in  a 
symbolical  form  among  the  Mokis,  who  observe  the  festivals  of  the  winter 
solstice  and  the  vernal  equinox.  ("Aspects  of  Sun-worship  amoncf  the 
:\Ioki  Indians,"  Nature.  July  28,  1898.)  The  Walpi.  a  Tusayan  j)'eople, 
hold  a  similar  great  sun-festival  at  the  winter  solstice,  and  December  is 
with  them  a  sacred  month  in  which  there  is  no  work  and  little  play.  This 
festival,  in  which  there  is  a  dance  dramatizing  the  fructification  of  the 
earth  and  the  imparting  of  virilitv  to  the  seeds  of  corn,  is  fullv  described 
by  ,J.  Walter  Fewkes  (American  Anthropologist.  :\rarch,  1898).  That 
these  solemn  annual  dances  and  festivals  of  North  America  frequently 
merge  into  "a  lecherous  sntiirnoTia."  when  "all  is  joy  and  happiness,"  is 
stated  by  H.  H.  Bancroft  ("Native  Races  of  Pacific'states."  vol.  i.  p.  352). 


86  PSYCHOLOGY    OF   SEX. 

a  state  of  extreme  sexual  excitement.  Among  the  Papuans  of 
Kew  Guinea,  also,  according  to  Miklucho-Maclea}^  conceptions 
chiefly  occur  at  the  end  of  harvest,  and  Guise  describes  the 
great  annual  festival  of  the  year  which  takes  place  at  the  time  of 
the  yam  and  banana  harvest,  when  the  girls  undergo  a  ceremony 
of  initiation  and  marriages  are  elfected.^  In  Central  Africa,  says 
Sir  H.  H.  Johnston,  in  his  "Central  Africa,"  sexual  orgies  are 
seriously  entered  into  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  but  he 
neglects  to  mention  what  these  seasons  are.  The  people  of  Xew 
Britain,  according  to  Weisser  (as  quoted  by  Ploss  and  Bartels), 
carefully  guard  their  young  girls  from  the  young  men.  At  cer- 
tain times,  however,  a  loud  trumpet  is  blown  in  the  evening,  and 
the  girls  are  then  allowed  to  go  away  into  the  bush  to  mix  freely 
with  the  young  men.  In  ancient  Peru  (according  to  an  account 
derived  from  a  pastoral  letter  of  Archbishop  Villagomez,  of 
Lima),  in  December,  when  the  fruit  of  the  paJtaj/  is' ripe,  a 
festival  was  held,  preceded  by  a  five  days'  fast.  During  the 
festival,  which  lasted  six  days  and  six  nights,  men  and  women 
met  together  in  a  state  of  complete  nudity  at  a  certain  spot  among 
the  gardens,  and  all  raced  toward  a  certain  hill.  Every  man  who 
caught  up  with  a  woman  in  the  race  was  bound  at  once  to  have 
intercourse  with  her. 

Very  instructive,  from  our  present  point  of  view,  is  the 
account  given  by  Dalton,  of  the  festivals  of  the  various  Bengal 
races.  Thus  the  Hos  (a  Kolarian  tribe),  of  Bengal,  are  a  purely 
agricultural  people,  and  the  chief  festival  of  the  year  with  them 
is  the  mdgh  parah.  It  is  held  in  the  month  of  January,  "when 
the  granaries  are  full  of  grain,  and  the  people,  to  use  their  own 
expression,  full  of  deviltry."  It  is  the  festival  of  the  harvest- 
home,  the  termination  of  the  year's  toil,  and  is  always  held  at 
full  moon.  The  festival  is  a  saturnalia,  when  all  rules  of  duty 
and  decor lun  are  forgotten,  and  the  utmost  liberty  is  allowed  to 
women  and  girls,  who  become  like  bacchantes.  The  people  be- 
lieve that  at  tliis  time  both  men  and  women  become  overcharged 


'  R.  K.  r;ni<c.  .Touriinl  of  the  AnlliroitoloLncal  Tnstituto.  jip.  214-210, 
18!){). 


THE    PHENOMEXA    OF    SEXUAL    PERIODICITY.  87 

with  vitality,  and  that  a  safety-valve  is  absolutely  necessary. 
The  festival  begins  with  a  religious  sacrifice  made  by  the  village 
priest  or  elders,  and  with  prayers  for  the  departed  and  for  the 
vouchsafing  of  seasonable  rain  and  good  crops.  The  religious 
ceremonies  over,  the  people  give  themselves  up  to  feasting  and 
to  drinking  the  home-made  beer,  the  preparation  of  which  from 
fermented  rice  is  one  of  a  girl's  chief  accomplishments.  ''The 
Ho  population,"  wrote  Dalton,  "are  at  other  seasons  quiet  and 
reserved  in  manner,  and  in  their  demeanor  toward  women  gentle 
and  decorous;  even  in  their  flirtations  they  never  transcend  the 
bounds  of  decency.  The  girls,  though  full  of  spirits  and  some- 
what saucy,  have  innate  notions  of  propriety  that  make  them 
modest  in  demeanor,  though  devoid  of  all  prudery,  and  of  the 
obscene  abuse  so  frequently  heard  from  the  lips  of  common 
women  in  Bengal  they  appear  to  have  no  knowledge.  They  are 
delicately  sensitive  under  harsh  language  of  any  kind,  and  never 
use  it  to  others;  and  since  their  adoption  of  clothing  they  are 
careful  to  drape  themselves  decently,  as  well  as  gracefully:  but 
they  throw  all  this  aside  during  the  mdgli  feast.  Their  nature 
appears  to  undergo  a  temporary  change.  Sons  and  daughters 
revile  their  parents  in  gross  language,  and  parents  their  children; 
men  and  women  become  almost  like  animals  in  the  indulgence 
of  their  amorous  propensities.  They  enact  all  that  was  ever 
portrayed  by  prurient  artists  in  a  bacchanalian  festival  or  pandean 
orgy;  and  as  the  light  of  the  sun  they  adore  and  the  presence  of 
numerous  spectators  seems  to  be  no  restraint  on  their  indulgence, 
it  cannot  be  expected  that  chastity  is  preserved  when  the  shades 
of  night  fall  on  such  a  scene  of  licentiousness  and  debauchery.'' 
"While,  however,  thus  representing  the  festival  as  a  mere  debauch, 
Dalton  adds  that  relationships  formed  at  this  time  generally  end 
in  marriage.  There  is  also  a  flower  festival  in  April  and  May, 
of  religious  nature,  but  the  dances  at  this  festival  are  quieter 
in  character.^ 


^  Dalton.  "Ethnoloor>'  of  Benpjal,"  pp.  196  et  seq.  W.  Crooke  (Jour- 
nal of  the  Anthropological  Institute,  p.  243,  1899)  also  refers  to  the 
annual  harvest-tree  dance  and  saturnalia  and  its  association  with  the 
seasonal  period  for  marriage. 


88  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   SEX. 

In  Biirmah  the  orreat  festival  of  the  vear  is  the  full  moon 
of  October,  following  the  Buddhist  Lent  season  (which  is  also 
the  wet  season),  during  which  there  is  no  sexual  intercourse. 
The  other  great  festival  is  the  Xew  Year  in  March. ^ 

In  classical  times  the  great  festivals  were  held  at  the  same 
time  as  in  northern  and  modern  Europe.  The  hrumalia  took 
place  in  midwinter,  when  the  days  were  shortest,  and  the  rosalia, 
according  to  early  custom  in  May  or  June,  and  at  a  later  time 
about  Easter.  After  the  establishment  of  Christianity  the  Church 
made  constant  efforts  to  suppress  this  latter  festival,  and  it  was 
referred  to  by  an  eighth  century  council  as  ''s.  wicked  and  repre- 
hensible holiday-making."  These  festivals  appear  to  be  inti- 
mately associated  with  Dionysus  worship,  and  the  flower-festivals 
of  Dionysus  were  held  in  spring.  So  were  the  festivals  of  the 
Delian  Apollo  and  of  Artemis,  both  taking  place  during  the  first 
week  in  May.- 

The  mediaeval  Feast  of  Fools  was  to  a  lars^e  extent  a  seasonal 
orgy  licensed  by  the  church.  A  parody  of  the  mass  took  place  in 
the  church.  "After  the  mass,"^  in  the  words  of  Dulaure,  "there 
were  new  acts  of  extravagance  and  impiety.  Priests  mingled  with 
the  general  population  of  both  sexes,  ran,  danced  in  the  church, 
excited  one  another  to  all  the  licentious  actions  unbridled  im- 
agination could  suggest.  Xo  shame  or  modesty  was  shown. 
There  was  nothing  to  interfere  with  the  stream  of  madness  and 
passion."  The  Feast  of  Fools  may  be  traced  directly  back 
through  the  barbatories  of  the  lower  empire  to  the  Eoman 
saiurnalia,  and  at  Sens,  the  ancient  ecclesiastical  metropolis  of 
France,  it  was  held  at  about  the  same  time  as  the  saturnalia,  on 
the  Feast  of  the  Circumcision:  i.e.,  Xew  Year's  Day.  It  was  not, 
however,  always  held  at  this  time:  thus,  at  Evrcux,  it  took  place 
on  the  1st  of  May.^ 

The  Easter  bon-fires  of  northern-central  Europe,  the  Mid- 


»  H.  Fielding,  "The  Soul  of  a  People,"  189S,  Chapter  XIII. 

=  See  r.//..  L.  Dyer,  "Studies  of  the  Gods  in  Greece,"  1S9I,  pp.  86-89, 
375,  etc. 

'  For  a  popular  account  of  the  Feast  of  Fools,  see  LoliC^e  "La  Ff^te 
des  Fous."  TJovuo  dos  ■Revues,  Mav  15,  1898;  also  J.  G.  Bourke,  "Scata- 
lorric  Uitcs  of  all   Nations,"  pp.   li-23. 


THE    PHENOMENA    OF    SEXUAL    PEKIODICITY.  89 

summer  (St.  John's  Eve)  fires  of  southern-eentral  Europe,  still 
bear  witness  to  the  ancient  festivals.^  Tliere  is  certainly  a  con- 
nection between  these  bon-fires  and  erotic  festivals;  it  is  note- 
worthy that  they  occur  chiefly  at  the  period  of  spring  and  early 
summer,  which,  on  other  grounds,  is  widely  regarded  as  the  time 
for  the  increase  of  the  sexual  instinct,  while  the  less  frequent 
period  for  the  bon-fires  is  that  of  the  minor  sexual  climax.  Mann- 
hardt  was  perhaps  the  first  to  show  how  intimately  these  spring 
and  early  summer  festivals — held  with  bon-fires  and  dances  and 
the  music  of  violin — have  been  associated  with  love-making  and 
the  choice  of  a  mate.-  In  spring,  the  first  Monday  in  Lent 
(Quadrigesima)  and  Easter  Eve  were  frequent  days  for  such  bon- 
fires. In  the  central  highlands  of  Scotland  the  Beltane  fires  were 
kindled  on  the  1st  of  May.  Bon-fires  sometimes  took  place  on 
Halloween  (October  31st)  and  Christmas.  But  the  great  season 
all  over  Europe  for  these  bon-fires,  then  often  held  with  erotic 
ceremonial,  is  the  summer  solstice,  the  23d  of  June,  the  eve  of 
Midsummer,  or  St.  John's,  Day.^ 

The  Bohemians  and  other  Slavonic  races  formerly  had  meet- 
ings with  sexual  license.     This  was  so  up  to  the  beginning  of 


^  J.  Grimm  ("Teutonic  Mythology,"  p.  615)  points  out  that  the 
observance  of  the  spring  or  Easter  bon-fires  marks  off  the  Saxon  from 
the  Franconian  peoples.  The  Easter  bon-fires  are  held  in  Lower  Saxony, 
Westphalia,  Lower  Hesse,  Geldern,  Holland,  Friesland,  Jutland,  and 
Zealand.  The  Midsummer  bon-fires  are  held  on  the  Rhine,  in  Franconia, 
Thuringia,  Swabia,  Bavaria,  Austria,  and  Silesia.  Schwartz  (Zeitschrift 
fiir  Ethnologie,  p.  L51,  1896)  shows  that  at  Lauterberg,  in  the  Harz 
Mountains,  the  line  of  demarkation  between  these  two  primitive  districts 
may  still  be  clearly  traced. 

-  Wald  und  Feldkulte,  1875,  vol.  i,  pp.  455  et  seq.  He  also  mentions 
that  St.  Valentine's  Day  (14th  of  February), — or  Ember  Day,  or  the  last 
day  of  February, — when  the  pairing  of  birds  was  supposed  to  take  place, 
was  associated  with  love-making  and  the  choice  of  a  mate.  In  Lorraine, 
it  may  be  added,  on  the  1st  of  May.  the  young  girls  chose  young  men 
as  their  valentines,  a  custom  known  by  this  name  to  Rabelais. 

^Mannhardt,  iJ)i(l.,  p.  469.  Also  J.  G.  Frazer,  "Golden  Bough,"  vol. 
ii.  Chapter  IV.  For  further  facts  and  references,  see  K.  Pearson  ("The 
Chances  of  Death,"  1897,  vol.  ii.  "Woman  as  Witch."  "Kindred  Group- 
marriage."  and  Appendix  on  "The  'Mailehu'  and  'Kiltfjang,'  ")  who  in- 
cidentally brings  together  some  of  the  evidence  concerning  primitive  sex- 
festivals  in  Europe.  Also  E.  Hahn,  "Demeter  und  Baubo."  1896,  pp.  38-40; 
and  for  some  modern  survivals,  see  Deniker.  "Races  of  ^lan."  1900.  Chap- 
ter III. 


90  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   SEX. 

the  sixteenth  centurv  on  the  banks  of  rivers  near  Xovsrorod. 
The  meetings  took  place,  as  a  rule,  the  day  before  the  Festival 
of  John  the  Baptist,  which,  in  pagan  times,  was  that  of  a  divinity 
known  by  the  name  of  Jarilo  (equivalent  to  Priapus).  Half  a 
century  later,  a  new  ecclesiastical  code  sought  to  abolish  every 
vestige  of  the  early  festivals  held  on  Christmas  Day,  on  the  Day 
of  the  Baptism  of  Our  Lord,  and  on  John  the  Baptist's  Day.  A 
general  feature  of  all  these  festivals  (says  Kowelewsky)  was  the 
prevalence  of  the  promiscuous  intercourse  of  the  sexes.  Among 
the  Esthonians,  at  the  end  of  the  last  century,  thousands  of  per- 
sons would  gather  around  an  old  ruined  church  (in  the  Fellin- 
schen)  on  the  Eve  of  St.  John,  light  a  bon-fire,  and  throw  sacri- 
ficial gifts  into  it.  Sterile  women  danced  naked  among  the  ruins; 
much  eating  and  drinking  went  on,  while  the  young  men  and 
maidens  disappeared  into  the  woods  to  do  what  they  would. 
Festivals  of  this  character  still  take  place  at  the  end  of  June  in 
some  districts.  Young,  unmarried  couples  jump  bare-foot  over 
large  fires,  usually  near  rivers  or  ponds.  Licentiousness  is  rare. 
But  in  many  parts  of  Russia  the  peasants  still  attach  little  value 
to  virginity,  and  even  prefer  women  who  have  been  mothers. 
The  population  of  the  Grisons  in  the  sixteenth  century  held 
res^ular  meetins^s  not  less  licentious  than  those  of  the  Cossacks. 
These  were  abolished  by  law.  Kowelewsky  regards  all  such  cus- 
toms as  a  survival  of  early  forms  of  promiscuity.^ 

As  regards  these  primitive  festivals,  although  the  evidence 
is  scattered  and  sometimes  obscure,  certain  main  conclusions 
clearly  emerge.  In  early  Europe  there  were,  according  to  Grimm, 
only  two  seasons,  sometimes  regarded  as  spring  and  winter, 
sometimes  as  spring  and  autumn,  and  for  mythical  purposes  these 
seasons  were  alone  available.^  The  appearance  of  each  of  these 
two  seasons  was  inaugurated  by  festivals  which  were  religious  and 
often  erotic  in  character.    The  Slavonic  year  began  in  March,  at 


^  M.  Kowelewsky,  "Marriaj^e  Amon*?  the  Early  Slavs,"  Folk-lore, 
Decem})er,  ISnO. 

^'A.  Tillo,  however  ("Vule  and  Christinas,"  ISOO),  wliilc  admitting 
that  the  general  Aryan  division  of  the  year  was  dual,  follows  Tacitus 
in  asserliiig  that  llio  ricrnianio  division  of  the  year  (like  tlie  Egyptian) 
was  trijiiulile:     winter,  spring,  and  sunnner. 


THE    PHENOMENA    OF    SEXUAL    PERIODICITY.  91 

which  time  there  was  formerly,  it  is  believed,  a  great  festival, 
not  only  in  Slavonic,  but  also  in  Teutonic  countries.  In  North- 
ern Germany  there  were  Easter  bon-fires  always  associated  with 
mountains  or  hills.  The  Celtic  bon-fires  were  held  at  the  begin- 
ning of  May,  while  the  Teutonic  May-day,  or  Walpurgisnacht, 
is  a  very  ancient  sacred  festival,  associated  with  erotic  ceremonial,, 
and  regarded  by  Grimm  as  having  a  common  origin  with  the 
Roman  floraUa  and  the  Greek  dionysia.  Thus,  in  Europe,  Grimm 
concludes:  "there  are  four  different  ways  of  welcoming  summer. 
In  Sweden  and  Gothland  a  l)attle  of  winter  and  summer,  a 
triumphal  entry  of  the  latter.  In  Schonen,  Denmark,  Lower 
Saxony,  and  England  simply  May-riding,  or  fetching  of  the  May- 
wagon.  On  the  Ehine  merely  a  battle  of  winter  and  summer, 
without  immersion,  without  the  pomp  of  an  entry.  In  Franconia, 
Thuringia,  Meissen,  Silesia,  and  Bohemia  only  the  carrying  out 
of  wintry  death;  no  battle,  no  formal  introduction  of  summer. 
Of  these  festivals  the  first  and  second  fall  in  May,  the  third  and 
fourth  in  ]\Iarch.  In  the  first  two,  the  whole  population  take 
part  with  unabated  enthusiasm;  in  the  last  two  only  the  lower 
poorer  class.  .  .  .  Everything  goes  to  prove  that  the  ap- 
proach of  summer  was  to  our  forefathers  a  holy  tide,  welcomed 
by  sacrifice,  feast,  and  dance,  and  largely  governing  and  bright- 
ening the  people's  life.''^  The  early  spring  festival  of  March  has 
become  identified  with  the  Christian  festival  of  Resurrection  (just 
as  the  summer  solstice  festival  has  been  placed  beneath  the  pat- 
ronage of  St.  John  the  Baptist);  but  there  has  been  only  an  amal- 
gamation of  closely-allied  rites,  for  the  Christian  festival  also 
may  be  traced  back  to  a  similar  origin.  iVmong  the  early  Ai*a- 
bians  the  great  ragah  feast,  identified  by  Ewald  and  Robertson 
Smith  with  the  Jewish  paschal  feast,  fell  in  the  spring  or  early 
summer,  when  the  camels  and  other  domestic  animals  brought 
forth  their  young  and  the  shepherds  offered  their  sacrifices. - 
Babylonia,  the  supreme  early  centre  of  religious  and  cosmological 
culture,  presents  a  more  decisive  example  of  the  sex  festival. 


^  Grimm.    "Teutonic    Mythology"    (English    translation    by    Stally- 
brass),  pp.  012-030.  779,  788.' 

-  Wellhausen/ "Reste  Arabischen  Heidentums,"   1897,  p.   98. 


92  PSYCHOLOGY   OF    SEX. 

The  festival  of  Tammiiz  is  precisely  analogous  to  the  European 
festival  of  St.  John's  da3^  Tammiiz  was  the  solar  god  of  spring 
vegetation,  and  closely  associated  with  Ishtar,  also  an  agricultural 
deity  of  fertility.  The  Tammuz  festival  was,  in  the  earliest  times, 
held  toward  the  summer  solstice,  at  the  time  of  the  first  wheat 
and  barley  harvest.  In  Babylonia,  as  in  primitive  Europe,  there 
were  only  two  seasons;  the  festival  of  Tammuz,  coming  at  the 
end  of  winter  and  the  beginning  of  summer,  was  a  fast  followed 
by  a  feast, — a  time  of  mourning  for  winter,  of  rejoicing  for  sum- 
mer. It  is  part  of  the  primitive  function  of  sacred  ritual  to  be 
symbolical  of  natural  processes,  a  mysterious  representation  of 
natural  processes  with  the  object  of  bringing  theni  about. ^  The 
Tammuz  festival  was  an  appeal  to  the  powers  of  Nature  to  ex- 
hibit their  generative  functions;  its  erotic  character  is  indicated 
not  only  by  the  well-known  fact  that  the  priestesses  of  Ishtar 
(the  Kadishtu,  or  "holy  ones")  were  prostitutes,  but  by  the  state- 
ments in  Babvlonian  les^ends  concernin<T:  the  state  of  the  earth 
during  Ishtar's  winter  absence,  when  the  bull,  the  ass,  and  man 
ceased  to  reproduce.  It  is  evident  that  the  return  of  spring, 
coincident  with  the  Tammuz  festival,  was  regarded  as  the  period 
for  the  return  of  the  reproductive  instinct  even  in  man.-  So 
that  along  this  line  also  we  are  led  back  to  a  great  procreative 
festival. 

Huis  the  great  spring  festivals  were  held  between  ]\Iarch 
and  June,  frequently  culminating  in  a  great  orgy  on  Midsummer's 
Eve.     The  next  great  season  of  festivals  in  Europe  was  in  late 


'  See,  €.().,  the  chapter  on  ritual  in  G6rard-Varet's  interesting^  book, 
"L'Tpnoranoe  et  I'lrreflexion,"  1899,  for  a  popular  account  of  tliis  and 
allied  primitive  oonee])ti()n.s. 

^Jastrou,  "Ivelifjion  of  Babylonia,"  especially  pp.  485,  571;  regard- 
ing the  priestesses.  Jastrow  remarks:  "Among  many  nations  tlie  mys- 
terious aspects  of  woman's  fertility  lead  to  rites  tliat  by  a  perversion  of 
their  original  im])ort  ap])ear  to  be  obscene.  The  ])rostitiites  were  priest- 
esses allMclied  to  the  Tshtar  cult,  and  who  took  jiart  in  ('(M-enionics  in- 
tended to  symbolize  fertility."  Whether  there  is  any  significance  in  the 
fact  that  tiie  first  two  months  of  the  Babylonian  year  (roughly  corre- 
sjjonding  Id  our  "March  and  A|)ril).  ^\■hcn  we  should  ex]ieci  births  to  be 
at  a  maximum,  were  dedicated  io  V.-<\  and  l>cl,  who,  according  to  varying 
legends,  were  the  creators  of  man,  and  that  New  Year's  Day  was  the 
festival  of  Piau,  regarded  as  the  molhcr  of  mankind.  1  cannot  say,  but  the 
suggestion  may   be  put    forward. 


THE    PHENOMENA    OF    SEXUAL    PERIODICITY.  93 

autumn.  The  beginning  of  Xovember,  both  in  Celtic  and  Teu- 
tonic countries,  was  a  ])erio(]  of  bon-fires.^  In  Germanic  coun- 
tries especially  there  was  a  great  festival  at  the  time.  The  Ger- 
manic year  began  at  Martinmas  (Xovember  11th),  and  the  great 
festival  of  the  year  was  then  held.  It  is  the  oldest  Germanic 
festival  on  record,  and  retained  its  importance  even  in  the  mid- 
dle ages.  There  was  feasting  all  night,  and  the  cattle  that  were 
to  be  killed  were  devoted  to  the  gods;  the  goose  Avas  associated 
with  this  festival.-  These  autumn  festivals  culminated  in  the 
great  festival  of  the  winter  solstice  which  we  have  perpetuated 
in  the  celebrations  of  Christmas  and  New  Year.  Thus,  while  the 
two  great  primitive  culminating  festivals  of  spring  and  autumn 
correspond  exactly  (as  we  shall  see)  with  the  seasons  of  maximum 
fecundation,  even  in  the  Europe  of  to-day,  the  earlier  spring 
(March)  and — though  less  close!}' — autumn  (Xovember)  festivals 
correspond  with  the  periods  of  maximum  spontaneous  sexual  dis- 
turbance, as  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  obtain  precise  evidence  of 
such  disturbance.  That  the  maximum  of  physiological  sexual 
excitement  should  tend  to  appear  earlier  than  the  maximum  of 
fecundation  is  a  result  that  might  be  expected. 

The  considerations  so  far  brought  forward  clearly  indicate 
that  among  primitive  races  there  are  frequently  one  or  two 
seasons  in  the  year — especially  spring  and  autumn — during 
which  sexual  intercourse  is  chiefly  or  even  exclusively  carried 
on,  and  they  further  indicate  that  these  primitive  customs  per- 
sist to  some  extent  even  in  Europe  to-day.  It  would  still  remain 
to  determine  whether  any  such  influence  still  affects  the  whole 
mass  of  the  civilized  population  and  determines  the  times  at 
which  intercourse,  or  fecundation,  most  frequently  takes  place. 

This  question  can  be  most  conveniently  answered  by  study- 


^  Grimm.  "Teutonic  ^Mythology,"  p.  146.5.  In  England  the  Novem- 
ber bon-fires  have  become  merged  to  the  Guy  Fawkes  celebrations.  In 
the  East  the  great  primitive  autumn  festivals  seem  to  have  fallen  some- 
what earlier.  In  Babylonia  the  seventh  month  (rou<jhly  corresponding 
to  September)  was  specially  sacred,  though  nothing  is  known  of  its  festi- 
vals, and  this  also  was  the  sacred  festival  month  of  the  Hebrews,  and 
originallv  of  the  Arabs. 

-A.  Tille,  "Yule  and  Christmas,"  p.  21,  etc. 


94  PSYCHOLOGY    OF   SEX. 

ing  the  seasonal  variation  in  the  birtli-rate,  calculating  back  to 
the  time  of  conception.  Wargentin,  in  Sweden,  first  called  at- 
tention to  the  periodicity  of  the  birth-rate  in  17 67.  The  matter 
seems  to  have  attracted  little  further  attention  until  Quetelet, 
who  instinctivelv  scented  unreclaimed  fields  of  statistical  investi- 
gation,  showed  that  in  Belgium  and  Holland  there  is  a  maximum 
of  births  in  February,  and,  consequently,  of  conceptions  in  May, 
and  a  minimum  of  births  about  July,  with  consequent  minimum 
of  conceptions  in  October.  Quetelet  considered  that  the  spring 
maximum  of  conceptions  corresponded  to  an  increase  of  vitality 
after  the  winter  cold.  He  pointed  out  that  this  sexual  climax 
was  better  marked  in  the  countrv  than  in  towns,  and  accounted 
for  this  by  the  consideration  that  in  the  country  the  winter  cold 
is  more  keenly  felt.  Later,  AVappiius  investigated  the  matter  in 
various  parts  of  northern  and  southern  Europe  as  well  as  in  Chile, 
and  found  that  there  was  a  maximum  of  conceptions  in  May  and 
June  attributable  to  season,  and  in  Catholic  countries  strength- 
ened bv  customs  connected  with  ecclesiastical  seasons.  This 
maximum  was,  he  found,  followed  by  a  minimum  in  September, 
October,  and  Xovember,  due  to  gradually-increasing  exhaustion, 
and  the  influence  of  epidemic  diseases,  as  well  as  the  strain  of 
harvest-work.  This  minimum  is  reached  in  the  south  earlier 
than  in  the  north.  About  Xovember  conceptions  again  become 
more  frequent,  and  reach  the  second  maximum  at  about  Christ- 
mas and  Xew  Year.  This  second  maximum  is  very  slightly 
marked  in  southern  countries,  but  strongly  marked  in  northern 
countries  (in  Sweden  the  absolute  maximum  of  conceptions  is 
reached  in  Deceml)er),  and  is  due,  in  the  opinion  of  Wappiius, 
solely  to  social  causes.  Yillerme  reached  somewhat  similar  re- 
sults. Founding  his  study  on  17,000,000  births,  he  showed  that 
in  France  it  was  in  April,  May,  and  June,  or  from  the  spring 
equinox  to  the  summer  solstice,  and  nearer  to  the  solstice  than 
the  equinox,  tliat  tlie  maximum  of  fecundations  takes  place; 
wliile  tlie  minimum  of  births  is  normally  in  Jidy,  but  is  retarded 
by  a  wet  and  cold  summer  in  such  a  manner  that  in  August  there 
are  scarcely  more  births  than  in  .Tuly,  and.  on  the  other  hand,  a 
very  hot  summer,  accelerating  the  minimum  of  births,  causes  it 


THE    PHENOMENA    OF    SEXUAL    PERIODICITY.  95 

to  fall  in  June  instead  of  in  July.^  He  also  showed  that  in 
Buenos  Ayres,  where  the  seasons  are  reversed,  the  conception- 
rate  follows  the  reversed  seasons,  and  is  also  raised  by  epochs  of 
repose,  of  plentiful  food,  and  of  increased  social  life.  Sormani 
studied  the  periodicity  of  conception  in  Italy,  and  found  that 
the  spring  maximum  in  the  southern  provinces  occurs  in  May, 
and  gradually  falls  later  as  one  proceeds  northward,  until,  in  the 
extreme  north  of  the  peninsula,  it  occurs  in  July.  In  southern 
Italy  there  is  only  one  maximum  and  one  minimum;  in  the  north 
there  are  two.  The  minimum  which  follows  the  spring  or  sum- 
mer maximum  increases  as  we  approach  the  south,  while  the 
minimum  associated  with  the  winter  cold  increases  as  we  ap- 
proach the  north.-  Beukemann,  who  studied  the  matter  in  vari- 
ous parts  of  Germany,  foimd  that  seasonal  influence  was  specially 
marked  in  the  case  of  illegitimate  births.  The  maximum  of  con- 
ceptions of  illegitimate  children  takes  place  in  the  spring  and 
summer  of  Europe  generally.  In  Eussia  it  takes  place  in  the 
autumn  and  winter,  when  the  harvest-w^orking  months  for  the 
population  are  over,  and  the  period  of  rest,  and  also  of  minimum 
death-rate  (September,  October,  and  November),  comes  round. 
In  Eussia  the  general  conception-rate  has  been  studied  by  various 
investigators.  Here  the  maximum  number  of  conceptions  is  in 
winter,  the  minimum  varying  among  different  elements  of  the 
population.  Looked  at  more  closely,  there  are  maxima  of  con- 
ceptions in  Eussia  in  January  and  in  April.  (In  Eussian  towns, 
however,  the  maximum  number  of  conceptions  occurs  in  the 
autumn.)  The  special  characteristics  of  the  Eussian  conception- 
rate  are  held  to  be  due  to  the  prevalence  of  marriages  in  autumn 
and  winter,  to  the  severely-observed  fasts  of  spring,  and  to  the 
exhausting  harvest-work  of  summer. 

It  is  instructive  to  compare  the  conception-rate  of  Europe 
with  that  of  a  non-European  country.  Such  a  comparison  has 
been  made  by  S.  A.  Hill  for  the  Xorthwest  Provinces  of  India. 
Here  the  Holi  and  other  erotic  festivals  take  place  in  spring;  but 


^  Villerme.  "De  la  Distribution  par  mois  des  conceptions,"  Annales 
d'Hygiene  Publique.  tome  v,  1831.  pp.  55-155. 
-  Sormani,  Giornale  di  Med.  Milit.,  1870. 


96  PSYCHOLOGY   OF    SEX. 

spring  is  not  the  period  when  conceptions  chiefly  take  place;  in- 
deed, the  prevalence  of  erotic  festivals  in  spring  appears  to  Hill 
an  argument  in  favor  of  those  festivals  havinsr  orisfinated  in  a 
colder  climate.  The  conceptions  show  a  rise  through  October 
and  Xovember  to  a  maximum  in  December  and  January,  followed 
by  a  steady  and  prolonged  fall  to  a  minimum  in  September.  This 
curve  can  be  accounted  for  by  climatic  and  economic  conditions. 
September  is  near  the  end  of  the  long  and  depressing  hot  season, 
when  malarial  influences  are  rapidly  increasing  to  a  maximum, 
the  food-supply  is  nearly  exhausted,  and  there  is  the  greatest 
tendency  to  suicide.  TTith  October  it  forms  the  period  of  greatest 
mortalitv.  December,  on  the  other  hand,  is  the  month  when 
food  is  most  abundant,  and  it  is  also  a  verv  health v  month. ^ 

For  a  summary  of  the  chief  researches  into  this  question  see  Ploss 
and  Bartels,  "Das  Weib,"  4th  edition,  pp.  502-516;  also  Eosenstadt,  "Zur 
Frage  nach  den  Ursachen  welche  die  Zahl  der  Conceptionen,  etc.," 
Mittheilungen  aus  den  embryologischen  Institute  Universitat  Wien, 
second  series,  fasc.  4,  1890.  Rosenstadt  concludes  that  man  has  inherited 
from  animal  ancestors  a  "physiological  custom"  which  has  probably  been 
further  favored  by  climatic  and  social  conditions.  "Primitive  man/'  he 
proceeds,  "had  inherited  from  his  ancestors  the  faculty  of  only  repro- 
ducing himself  at  determined  epochs.  On  the  arrival  of  this  period  of 
rut  fecundation  took  place  on  a  large  scale,  this  being  very  easy,  thanks 
to  the  promiscuity  in  which  primitive  man  lived.  With  the  development 
of  civilization  men  give  themselves  up  to  sexual  relations  all  the  year 
around,  but  the  'physiological  custom'  of  procreating  at  a  certain  epoch 
has  not  completely  disappeared:  it  remains  as  a  survival  of  the  animal 
condition,  and  manifests  itself  in  the  recrudescence  of  the  number  of 
conceptions  during  certain  months  of  the  year." 

Some  years  ago  Prof.  J.  B.  Haycraft  argued,  on  the  basis  of  data 
furnished  by  Scotland,  that  the  conception-rate  corresponds  to  the  tem- 
perature-curve (Haycraft,  "Physiological  Results  of  Temperature  Vari- 
ation. "Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh,"  volume  xxix, 
1880).  "Temperature,"  he  concluded,  "is  the  main  factor  regulating  the 
variations  in  the  number  of  conceptions  which  occur  during  tlie  year. 
It  increases  their  numl)er  with  its  elevation,  and  this  on  an  average  of 
0.5  per  cent,  for  an  elevation  of  1"  F."  Whether  or  not  this  theorj'  may 
fit  the  facts  as  regards  Scotland,  it  is  certainly  altogether  untenable 
when  we  take  a  broader  view  of  the  phenomena. 


'Hill,   Nature,  July    12,   1888. 


THE    PHENOMENA    OF    SEXUAL    PERIODIOITY.  97 

In  order  to  obtain  a  fairly  typical  conception-curve  for  Eu- 
rope, and  to  allow  the  variations  of  local  habit  and  customs  to 
some  extent  to  annihilate  each  other,  I  have  summated  the 
figures  given  by  Mayr  for  about  a  quarter  of  a  million  births 
in  Germany,  France,  and  Italy,^  obtaining  a  curve  (Chart  2) 
of  the  concsption-rate  which  may  be  said  roughly  to  be  that 
of  Europe  generally.  If  we  begin  at  September  as  the  lowest 
point,  we  find  an  autumn  rise  culminating  in  the  lesser  maxi- 
mum of  Christmas,  followed  by  a  minor  depression  in  January 
and  February.  Then  comes  the  great  spring  rise,  culminating  in 
May,  and  followed  after  June  by  a  rapid  descent  to  the  minimum. 

It  would  be  of  some  interest  to  know  the  conception-curve 
for  the  well-to-do  classes,  who  are  largely  free  from  the  industrial 
and  social  influences  which  evidently,  to  a  great  extent,  control 
the  conception-rate.  It  seems  probable  that  the  seasonal  influ- 
ence would  here  be  specially  well  shown.  The  only  attempt  I 
have  made  in  this  direction  is  to  examine  a  well-filled  birthday- 
book.  The  entries  show  a  ^very  high  and  equally  maintained 
maximum  of  conceptions  throughout  April,  May,  and  June,  fol- 
lowed by  a  marked  minimum  during  the  next  three  months,  and 
an  autumn  rise  very  strongly  marked  in  November.  There  is  no 
December  rise.  As  will  be  seen,  there  is  here  a  fairly  exact  re- 
semblance to  the  yearly  ecbolic  curve  of  people  of  the  same  class. 
The  inquiry  needs,  however,  to  be  extended  to  a  very  much  larger 
number  of  cases. 

A  very  curious  and  perhaps  not  accidental  coincidence  might 
be  briefly  pointed  out  before  we  leave  this  part  of  the  subject. 
It  is  found^  by  taking  3000  cases  of  children  dying  under  one 
year  that,  among  the  general  population,  children  born  in  Feb- 
ruary and  September  (and  therefore  conceived  in  May  and  De- 
cember) appear  to  possess  the  greatest  vitality,  and  those  born  in 


^  G.  Mayr,  "Die  Gesetzmassigkeit  im  Gesellschaftsleben,"  1877,  p. 
240. 

-Edward  Smith  ("Health  and  Disease"),  who  attributes  this  to  the 
lessened  vitality  of  offspring  at  that  season.  Beukemann  also  states  that 
children  bom  in  September  have  most  vitality. 


98  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

June,  and,  therefore,  conceived  in  September,  the  least  vitality.^ 
As  we  have  seen,  May  and  December  are  precisely  the  periods 
when  conceptions  in  Europe  generally  are  at  a  maximum,  and  Sep- 
tember is  precisely  the  period  when  they  are  at  a  minimum,  so 
that,  if  this  coincidence  is  not  accidental,  the  strongest  children 
are  conceived  when  there  is  the  strongest  tendency  4.0  procreate, 
and  the  feeblest  children  when  that  tendency  is  feeblest.  I  trust 
that  the  possible  relationship  which  I  here  suggest  will  be  further 
investigated. 

Professor  Xelson,  in  his  study  of  dreams  and  their  relation 
to  seasonal  ecbolic  manifestations,  does  not  present  any  yearly 
ecbolic  curve,  as  the  two  years  and  a  half  over  which  his  observa- 
tions extend  scarcely  supply  a  sufficient  basis.  On  examining 
his  figures,  however,  I  find  there  is  a  certain  amount  of  evidence 
of  a  yearly  rhythm.  There  are  spring  and  autumn  climaxes 
throughout  (in  February  and  in  November);  there  is  no  Decem- 
ber rise.  During  one  year  there  is  a  marked  minimum  from  May 
to  September,  though  it  is  but  slightly  traceable  in  the  succeed- 
ing year.  These  figures  are  too  uncertain  to  prove  anything,  but, 
as  far  as  they  go,  they  are  in  fair  agreement  with  the  much  more 
extensive  record  which  I  have  already  made  use  of  in  discussing 
the  question  of  a  monthly  rhythm.  This  record,  covering  nearly 
twelve  years,  shows  a  general  tendency,  when  the  year  is  divided 
into  four  periods  (Xovember- January,  February- April,  May- 
July,  August-October)  and  the  results  summated,  to  rise  steadily 
throughout,  from  the  minimum  in  the  winter  period  to  the 
maximum  in  the  autumn  period.  This  steady  upward  prog- 
ress is  not  seen  in  each  year  taken  separately.  In  three  years 
there  is  a  fall  in  passing  from  the  Xovember-January  to  the 
February- April  (piarter  (always  followed  by  a  rise  in  the  subse- 
quent quarter);  in  three  cases  there  is  a  fall  in  passing  from  the 
second  to  the  third  quarter  (again  always  followed  by  a  rise  in 
the  following  t|uarter),  and  in  two  successive  years  there  is  a  fall 
in  passiricr  from  the  third  to  the  fourth  (juarter.     If,  however, 


'  Wosterniarck  has  even  supfjested  that  llio  December  maximum 
of  c-oticcjttions  may  bo  duo  to  bettor  elianoe  of  survival  for  September 
olVs|)riiitr    ("Human  Marriage,"  Chapter  II). 


THE    PHENOAIEXA   OF    SEXUAL    PERIODICITY.  99 

beginning  at  the  second  3'ear,  we  summate  the  results  for  each 
year  with  those  for  all  previous  years,  a  steady  rise  from  season 
to  season-  is  seen  throughout.  If  we  analyze  the  data  according 
to  the  months  of  the  year,  still  more  precise  and  interesting  re- 
sults (as  shown  in  the  curve,  Chart  3)  are  obtained;  two  maxi- 
mum points  are  seen,  one  in  spring  (March),  one  in  autumn 
(October,  or,  rather,  August-October),  and  each  of  these  maxi- 
mum points  is  followed  by  a  steep  and  sudden  descent  to  the 
minimum  points  in  April  and  in  December.  If  we  compare  this 
result  with  Mr.  Perrv-Coste's,  also  extendino^  over  a  lono^  series  of 
years,  we  find  a  marked  similarity.  In  both  alike  there  are  spring 
and  autumn  maxima,  in  both  the  autumn  maximum  is  the  high- 
est, and  in  both  also  there  is  an  intervening  fall.  In  both  cases, 
again,  the  maxima  are  followed  by  steep  descents,  but  while  in 
both  the  spring  maximum  occurs  in  March,  in  Mr.  Perry-Coste's 
case  the  second  maximum,  though  of  precisely  similar  shape, 
occurs  earlier,  in  June-September  instead  of  August-October. 
In  Mr.  Perry-Coste's  case,  also,  there  is  an  apparently  abnormal 
tendency,  only  shown  in  the  more  recent  years  of  the  record,  to 
an  additional  maximum  in  Januarv.  The  records  certainlv  show 
far  more  points  of  agreement  than  of  discrepancy,  and  by  their 
harmony,  as  well  with  each  other  as  with  themselves,  when  the 
years  are  taken  separately,  certainW  go  far  to  prove  that  there  is 
a  very  marked  annual  rhythm  in  the  phenomena  of  seminal  emis- 
sions during  sleep,  or,  as  Xelson  has  termed  it,  the  ecbolic  curve. 
We  see  also  that  the  crreat  vearlv  or2:anic  climax  of  sexual  effer- 
vescence  corresponds  with  the  period  following  harvest,  which, 
throughout  the  primitive  world,  has  been  a  season  of  sexual 
erethism  and  orgy;  though  those  customs  have  died  out  of  our 
waking  lives,  they  are  still  imprinted  on  our  nervous  texture,  and 
become  manifest  during  sleep. 

If  we  are  to  believe,  as  these  records  tend  to  show,  that  the 
nocturnal  and  involuntary  voice  of  the  sexual  impulse  speaks 
most  loudly  in  autumn,  we  are  confronted  by  a  certain  opposi- 
tion between  the  sleeping  sexual  impulse  and  the  waking  sexual 
instinct,  as  witnessed  by  the  conception-curve,  and  also,  it  may 
be  added,  l^y  the  general  voice  of  tradition,  and,  indeed,  of  indi- 


100  PSYCHOLOGY   OF    SEX. 

vidual  feeling,  which  concur,  on  the  whole,  in  placing  the  chief 
epoch  of  sexual  activity  in  spring  and  early  summer.^  It  is  not 
impossible  to  reconcile  the  contradiction,  assuming  it  tb  be  real, 
but  I  will  refrain  here  from  su2:2:estin£:  the  various  explanations 
which  arise.    We  need  a  broader  basis  of  facts. 

In  the  earliest  days  of  Greek  tradition  spring  and  summer  were 
noted  as  the  time  of  greatest  wantonness.  "In  the  season  of  toilsome 
summer,"  says  Hesiod  (''Works  and  Days,"  xi,  11.  5G9-90),  "then  goats 
are  fattest,  wine  is  best,  women  most  wanton,  and  men  weakest." 
Augustin  Xippo,  it  appears,  in  a  singular  book  on  love  dedicated  to 
Joan  of  Aragon,  discussed  the  reasons  why  "women  are  more  lustful 
and  amorous  in  summer  and  men  in  winter."  Paulus  .^gineta  said 
that  hysteria  specially  abounds  during  spring  and  autumn  in  lascivious 
girls  and  sterile  women,  while  more  recent  observers  have  believed  that 
hysteria  is  specially  difficult  to  treat  in  the  autumn.  Oribasius,  in  his 
"SjTiopsis"  (lib.  i,  cap.  6),  quotes  from  Eufus  to  the  effect  that  sexual 
feeling  is  most  strong  in  spring  and  least  so  in  summer,  and  Aetius 
makes  the  same  quotation.  At  the  beginning  of  the  century  Wich- 
mann  stated  that  pollutions  and  nymphomania  are  most  common  in 
spring.  Laycock,  w'ho  refers  to  some  of  these  writers,  remarks:  "This 
also  at  the  present  day  is  the  popular  opinion,  and  appears  to  be 
founded  on  fact"  ("Nervous  Diseases  of  Women,"  p.  69).  I  find  that 
many  people  confirm,  from  their  own  experience,  the  opinion  that  sexual 
feeling  is  strongest  in  spring  and  summer. 

There  are  many  facts  to  show  that  early  spring,  and,  to  a 
certain  extent,  autumn,  are  periods  of  visible  excitement,  mainly 
sexual  in  character.  We  have  already  seen  that  among  the 
Esquimaux  menstruation  and  sexual  desire  occur  chiefly  in  spring, 
but  cases  are  known  of  healthy  women  in  temperate  climes  who 
only  menstruate  twice  a  year,  and  in  such  cases  the  menstrual 
epochs  appear  to  be  usually  in  spring  and  autumn.  Such,  at  all 
events,  was  the  case  in  a  girl  of  20,  whose  history  has  been  re- 
corded by  Dr.  Mary  Wenck,  of  Phi]adel])lHa.-  She  menstruated 
first  when  15  years  old.    Six  months  later  the  flow  again  appeared 


'It  is,  however,  noteworthy  that  among  European  women  monslni- 
ation  now  usually  makes  its  first  appearance  in  autumn.  Krieger  found 
that  the  great  majority  of  women  investigated  by  him  menstruated  for 
the  first  time  in  September.  October,  and  November. 

-Women's   Medical   Journal,    1894. 


THE    PHENOMENA    OF    SEXUAL    PERIODICITY.  101 

for  the  second  time,  and  lasted  three  weeks,  without  cessation. 
Since  then,  for  five  years,  she  menstruated  during  March  and 
September  only,  each  time  for  three  weeks,  the  flow  being  pro- 
fuse, but  not  exhaustingly  so,  without  pain  or  systemic  disturb- 
ance. Examination  revealed  perfectly  normal  uterus  and  ovarian 
organs.  The  girl  was  somewhat  ansemic  in  appearance,  but  three 
months  of  constant  treatment,  accompanied  by  sitz-baths  during 
the  time  of  month  the  flow  should  appear,  accomplished  nothing 
except  to  relieve  a  cough  and  increase  weight.  The  semi-annual 
flow  still  continues,  and  the  girl  seems  to  be  in  excellent  health. 
It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that,  as  noted  by  Dr.  Hamilton  Wey 
at  Elmira,  sexual  outbursts  among  prisoners  appear  to  occur  at 
about  March  and  October.  "Beginning  with  the  middle  of  Feb- 
ruary/^ writes  Dr.  "Wey  in  a  private  letter,  "and  continuing  for 
about  two  months,  is  a  season  of  ascending  sexual  wave;  also  the 
latter  half  of  September  and  the  month  of  October.  We  are  now 
(March  30th)  in  the  midst  of  a  wave.^' 

Sexual  crimes,  it  is  interesting  to  note,  seem  to  follow  the  tendency 
of  crime  generally,  and  to  show  a  maximum  in  summer  rather  than  in 
spring  or  autumn.  Eapes  and  oflfences  against  modesty  are  most  numer- 
ous in  May,  June,  and  July,  as  Villerme,  Lacassagne,  and  others  have 
noted.  Villerme,  investigating  nearly  1000  such  cases  occurring  in 
France  in  the  years  1827-29,  found  a  gradual  ascent  in  frequency  (only 
slightly  broken  in  March)  to  a  maximum  in  June  (oscillating  between 
^May  and  July  when  the  years  are  taken  separately),  and  then  a  gradual 
descent  to  a  minimum  in  December.  Legludic  gives  for  the  159  cases 
he  had  investigated  a  table  showing  a  small  February-March  maximum, 
and  a  large  June-August  maximum,  the  minimum  being  reached  in 
Xovember-January  (Legludic,  "Attentats  aux  Moeurs,"  1896,  p.  16). 
Penta  gives  a  diagram  showing  the  seasonal  influence  of  sexual  offences 
Avith  a  minor  climax  in  May  (coinciding,  in  accordance  with  his  observa- 
tions, with  the  chief  climax  for  crime  generally,  as  well  as  with  the 
maximum  of  conceptions),  and  a  more  marked  climax  in  August  ("I  Per- 
vertimenti  Sessuali,"  1893,  p.  115).  Laurent  ("Habitues  des  Prisons  de 
Paris,"  Chapter  I)  presents  Lacassagne's  tables  of  the  monthly  dis- 
tribution of  sexual  and  other  crimes  in  France  during  the  years  of 
1827-70.  Corre  ("Crime  en  Pays  Creole")  presents  charts  of  the  seasonal 
distribution  of  crime  in  Guadeloupe  with  relation  to  the  temperature, 
which  clearly  show  that,  Avhile.  in  a  temperature  like  that  of  France 
or  England,  crime  attains  its  maximum  in  the  hot  season,  it  is  not  so 


102  PSYCHOLOGY   OF    SEX. 

in  a  hot  climate:  in  July,  where  at  Guadeloupe  the  heat  attains  a  well- 
marked  maximum,  crimes  of  all  kinds  fall  suddenly  to  a  very  low  mini- 
mum. 

Ill  his  'Thysical  and  Industrial  Training  of  Criminals"^ 
Dr.  H.  D.  Wey  gives  charts  of  the  conduct  of  seven  prisoners 
during  several  years,  as  shown  by  the  marks  received.  These 
charts  show  that  there  is  a  very  decided  tendency  to  good  be- 
havior during  summer  and  winter,  while  in  spring  (February, 
March,  and  April)  and  in  autumn  (August,  September,  and  Oc- 
tober) there  are  very  marked  falls  to  bad  conduct,  each  individual 
tending  to  adhere  to  a  conduct-curve  of  his  own.  Dr.  Wey  does 
not  himself  appear  to  have  noticed  this  seasonal  periodicity. 

Crichton-Browne  remarks  that  children  in  spring-time  ex- 
hibit restlessness,  excitability,  perversity,  and  indisposition  to 
exertion  that  are  not  displayed  at  other  times.  This  condition, 
sometimes  known  as  ^^spring  fever,"  has  lately  been  studied  in 
over  a  hundred  cases,  both  children  and  adults,  by  Kline.  The 
majority  of  these  report  a  feeling  of  tiredness,  languor,  lassitude, 
sometimes  restlessness,  sometimes  drowsiness.  There  is  often  a 
feeling  of  suffocation,  and  a  longing  for  Xature  and  fresh  air  and 
day-dreams,  while  work  seems  distasteful  and  unsatisfactory. 
Change  is  felt  to  be  necessary  at  all  costs,  and  sometimes  there  is 
a  desire  to  begin  some  new  plan  of  life.-  In  both  sexes  there  is 
frequently  a  wave  of  sexual  emotion,  a  longing  for  love.  Kline 
also  found  by  examination  of  a  very  large  number  of  cases  that 
between  the  ages  of  four  aijd  seventeen  it  is  in  spring  that  run- 
ning away  from  home  most  often  occurs.  He  suggests  that  this 
whole  group  of  phenomena  may  be  due  to  the  shifting  of  the 
metabolic  processes  from  the  ordinary  grooves  into  reproductive 


'  "Mono^naplis  of  tlie  Industrial  Kducation  Association."  1S88,  p.  70. 

-  It  is,  perhaps,  woi'tli  while  n()lin<;  that  tlie  wisdom  of  the  inedioval 
church  found  an  outlet  for  Ihi.s  "s|)rinfj  fever"  in  ])il<jrima<]:os  <o  remote 
shiiues.     As  (Jhaucer  wrote   in   tlie  "Canterbury  Tales":  — 

"Whanne  that  A|>ril   with  his  showers  sote 
The  drou^Mits  of  March  hath  ])ierced  to  the  root, 
'I'heu    loii^ren   folks  to  j;on   on   ))il;:iinKiire. 
And  palmers  for  to  s<'eken  strange  strouds." 


THE    PHEXOMEXA    OF    SEXUAL    PERIODICITY.  103 

channels,  and  seeks  to  bring  it  into  connection  with  the  migra- 
tions of  animals  for  reproductive  purposes.^ 

It  has  long  been  known  that  the  occurrence  of  insanity  fol- 
lows an  annual  curve,  and  though  our  knowledge  of  this  curve, 
being  founded  on  the  date  of  admissions  to  asylums,  cannot  be 
said  to  be  quite  precise,  it  fairly  corresponds  to  the  outbreaks  of 
acute  insanity.  The  curve  presented  in  Chart  4  shows  the  ad- 
missions to  the  London  County  Council  Lunatic  Asylums  dur- 
ing the  years  1893  to  1897  inclusive;  I  have  arranged  it  in  two- 
month  periods,  to  neutralize  unimportant  oscillations.  In  order 
to  show  that  this  curve  is  not  due  to  local  or  accidental  circum- 
stances, we  may  turn  to  France  and  take  a  special  and  chronic 
form  of  mental  disease:  Garnier,  in  his  "Folic  a  Paris,^'  presents 
an  almost  exactly  similar  curve  of  the  admissions  of  cases  of  gen- 
eral paralysis  to  the  Infirmerie  Speciale  at  Paris  during  the  years 
1886-88  (Chart  5). 

The  general  statistics  of  suicides  in  Continental  Europe 
show  a  very  regular  and  unbroken  curve,  attaining  a  maximum 
in  June  and  a  minimum  in  December,  the  curve  rising  steadily 
through  the  first  six  months,  sinking  steadily  through  the  last 
six  months,  but  always  reaching  a  somewhat  greater  height  in 
May  than  in  July.-  Morselli  shows  that  in  various  European 
countries  there  is  always  a  rise  in  spring  and  in  autumn  (October 
or  Xovember).  The  spring  rise  differs  from  those  we  are  here 
chiefly  concerned  with,  and  more  resembles  that  of  criminality, 
in  continuing  on  to  a  great  summer  climax,  and  then  falling 
rapidly  about  August,  instead  of  falling  during  the  early  sum- 
mer. Morselli  attributes  these  spring  and  autumn  rises  to  the 
influence  of  the  strain  of  the  early  heat  and  the  early  cold.^  In 
England,  also,  if  we  take  a  very  large  number  of  statistics, — for 
instance,  the  figures  for  London  during  the  twenty  years  between 
1865  and  1884,  as  given  by  Ogle  (in  a  paper  read  before  the 


^  L.  W.  Kline.  "The  Migratory  Impulse."  American  Journal  of 
Psychology,  vol.  x,  Xo.  1.  1898,  especially  pp.  21-24. 

-  This  is,  at  all  events,  the  case  in  France,  Prussia,  and  Italy.  See, 
for  instance.  Durkheim's  discussion  of  the  cosmic  factors  of  suicide, 
"Le  Suicide,"  1897,  Chapter  III. 

^  Morselli,  '"Suicide,"  pp.  55-72. 


104  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

Statistical  Society  in  1886), — we  find  that,  although  the  general 
curve  has  the  same  maximum  and  minimum  points,  it  is  inter- 
rupted by  a  break  on  each  side  of  the  maximum,  and  these  two 
breaks  occur  precisely  at  about  March  and  October.^  This  is 
shown  in  the  curve  in  Chart  6,  which  presents  the  daily  average 
for  the  different  months. 

The  growth  of  children  follows  an  annual  rhythm.  Wahl, 
the  director  of  an  educational  establishment  for  homeless  girls 
in  Denmark,  who  investigated  this  question,  found  that  the  in- 
crease of  weight  for  all  the  ages  investigated  was  constantly  about 
33  per  cent,  greater  in  the  summer  half-year  than  in  the  winter 
half-year.  It  was  noteworthy  that  even  the  children  who  had 
not  reached  school-age,  and,  therefore,  could  not  be  influenced 
by  school-life,  showed  a  similar,  though  slighter,  difference  in 
the  same  direction.  It  is,  however,  Malling-IIansen,  the  director 
of  an  institution  for  deaf-mutes  in  Copenhagen,  who  has  most 
thoroughly  investigated  this  matter  over  a  great  many  years.  He 
finds  that  there  are  three  periods  of  growth  throughout  the  year, 
marked  off  in  a  fairly  sharp  manner,  and  that  during  each  of  these 
periods  the  growth  in  weight  and  height  shows  constant  charac- 
teristics. From  about  the  end  of  November  up  to  about  the  end 
of  March  is  a  period  when  growth,  both  in  height  and  weight, 
proceeds  at  a  medium  rate,  reaching  neither  a  maximum  nor  a 
minimum;  increase  in  weight  is  slight,  the  increase  in  height, 
although  trifling,  preponderating.  After  this  follows  a  period 
during  which  the  children  show  a  marked  increase  in  height, 
while  increase  in  weight  is  reduced  to  a  minimum.  The  children 
constantly  lose  in  weight  during  this  period  of  growth  in  height 
almost  as  much  as  they  gain  in  the  preceding  period.  This  period 
lasts  from  March  and  April  to  July  and  August.  Then  follows 
the  third  period,  which  continues  until  November  and  December. 
During  this  period  increase  in  height  is  very  slight,  being  at  its 
early  minimum;  increase  in  weight,  on  the  other  hand,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  period  (in  September  and  October),  is  rapid  and 


*  O<rlo  himself  was  inclined  to  think  that  these  breaks  were  acci- 
dental.  hoincr  unaware  of  the  allied  phenomena  with  which  they  may  be 
broiiL'lit    into   line. 


THE   PHENOMENA    OF    SEXUAL   PERIODICITY.  105 

to  the  middle  of  December  very  considerable,  daily  increase  in 
weight  being  three  times  as  great  as  during  the  winter  months. 
Thus  it  may  be  said  that  the  spring  sexual  climax  corresponds, 
roughly,  with  growth  in  height  and  arrest  of  growth  in  weight, 
while  the  autumn  climax  corresponds  roughly  with  a  period  of 
growth  in  weight  and  arrest  of  growth  in  height.  Malling- 
Hansen  found  that  slight  variations  in  the  growth  of  the  children 
were  often  dependent  on  changes  in  temperature,  in  such  a  way 
that  a  rise  of  temperature,  even  lasting  for  only  a  few  days,  caused 
an  increase  of  growth,  and  a  fall  of  temperature  a  decrease  in 
growth.  In  America,  also,  Peckham  has  shown  that  increase  of 
growth  is  chiefly  from  the  1st  of  May  to  the  1st  of  September.^ 
Goepel  found  that  increase  in  height  takes  place  mostly  during 
the  first  eight  months  of  the  year,  reaching  a  maximum  in  Au- 
gust, declining  during  the  autumn  and  winter,  in  February  being 
nil,  while  in  March  there  is  sometimes  loss  in  weight  even  in 
healthy  children. 

In  the  course  of  a  study  as  to  the  consumption  of  bread  in 
normal  schools  during  each  month  of  the  year,  as  illustrating  the 
relationship  between  intellectual  work  and  nutrition,  Binet  pre- 
sents a  number  of  curves  which  bring  out  results  to  which  he 
makes  no  allusion,  as  they  are  outside  his  own  investigation. 
Almost  without  exception,  these  curves  show  that  there  is  an 
increase  in  the  consumption  of  bread  in  spring  and  in  autumn, 
the  spring  rise  being  in  February,  March,  and  April;  the  autumn 
rise  in  October  or  November.  There  are,  however,  certain  falla- 
cies in  dealing  with  institutions  like  normal  schools,  where  the 
conditions  are  not  perfectly  regular  throughout  the  year,  owing 
to  vacations,  etc.  It  is,  therefore,  instructive  to  find  that  under 
the  monotonous  conditions  of  prison-life  precisely  the  same 
spring  and  autumn  rises  are  found.  Binet  takes  the  consumption 
of  bread  in  the  women's  prison  at  Clermont,  where  some  four 
hundred  prisoners,  chiefly  between  the  ages  of  thirty  and  forty. 


^  Ped.  Sen..  June.  1891.  p.  298.  For  a  vei*y  full  summary  and  bibli- 
ography of  investigations  regarding  growth,  see  F.  Burk.  "Growth  of 
Children  in  Height  and  Weight."  American  Journal  of  Psvchologv,  April, 
1898. 


106  PSYCHOLOGY   OF    SEX. 

are  confined,  and  he  presents  two  curves  for  the  years  1895  and 
1896.  The  curves  for  these  two  years  show  certain  marked  dis- 
agreements with  each  other,  but  both  unite  in  presenting  a  dis- 
tinct rise  in  April,  preceded  and  followed  by  a  fall,  and  both 
present  a  still  more  marked  autumn  rise,  in  one  case  in  Septem- 
ber and  Xovember,  in  the  other  case  in  October.^ 


Some  years  ago  Sir  J.  Crichton-Browne  stated  that  a  manifesta- 
tion  of  the  sexual  stimulus  of  spring  is  to  be  found  in  the  large  number 
of  novels  read  during  the  month  of  INIarch  ("Address  in  Psychology*'  at 
the  annual  meeting  of  the  British  Medical  Association.  Leeds.  1889; 
Lancet,  August  14,  1889).  The  statement  was  supported  by  figures  fur- 
nished by  lending  libraries,  and  has  since  been  widely  copied.  It  would 
certainly  be  interesting  if  we  could  so  simply  show  the  connection  be- 
tween love  and  season,  by  proving  that  when  the  birds  began  to  sing 
their  notes  the  young  person's  fancy  naturally  turns  to  brood  over  the 
pictures  of  mating  in  novels.  I  accordingly  applied  to  jNIr.  Capel  Shaw, 
Chief  Librarian  of  the  Birmingham  Free  Libraries  (specially  referred  to 
by  Sir  J.  Crichton-Browne),  who  furnished  me  with  the  Reports  for 
1896  and  1897-98  (this  latter  report  is  carried  on  to  the  end  of  ]\Iarch, 
1898). 

The  readers  who  use  the  Birmingham  Free  Lending  Libraries  are 
about  30,000  in  number;  tliey  consist  very  largely  of  young  people  be- 
tween the  ages  of  14  and  25;  somewhat  less  than  half  are  women.  Cer- 
tainly we  seem  to  have  here  a  good  field  for  the  determination  of  this 
question.  The  monthly  figures  for  each  of  the  ten  Birmingham  libraries 
are  given  separately,  and  it  is  clear  at  a  glance  that  without  exception 
the  maximum  number  of  readers  of  prose-fiction  at  all  the  libraries  during 
1897-98  is  found  in  the  month  of  March.  (I  have  chiefly  taken  into 
consideration  the  figures  for  1897-98;  the  figures  for  1896  are  somewhat 
abnormal  and  irregular,  probably  owing  to  a  decrease  in  readers,  at- 
tributed to  increased  activity  in  trade,  and  partly  to  a  disturbing  in- 
fluence caused  by  the  opening  of  a  large  new  library  in  the  course  of  the 
year,  suddenly  increasing  the  number  of  readers,  and  drafting  oflf  bor- 
rowers from  some  of  the  other  libraries.)  Not  only  so,  but  there  is  a 
second,  or  autumnal,  climax,  almost  equaling  tlie  spring  climax,  and  oc- 
curring with  equal  certainty,  appearing  during  1897-98  either  in  October 
or  November,  and  during  1896  constantly  in  October.  Thus  the  perio- 
dicity of  the  rate  of  consumption  of  prose-fiction  corresponds  with  the 


'  "L'Annee  Psyciiologique,"   1898. 


THE    PHEXOMEXA    OF    SEXUAL    PERIODICITY.  107 

periodicity  which  is  found  to  occur  in  the  conception-rate  and  in  sexual 
ecbolic  manifestations. 

It  is  necessar}',  however,  to  examine  somewhat  more  closely  the 
tables  presented  in  these  reports,  and  to  compare  the  rate  of  the  con- 
sumption of  novels  Avith  that  of  other  classes  of  literature.  In  the  first 
place,  if,  instead  of  merely  considering  the  consumption  of  novels  per 
month,  we  make  allowance  for  the  varying  length  of  the  months,  and 
consider  the  average  daiJu  consumption  per  month,  the  supremacy  of 
March  at  once  vanishes.  February  is  really  the  month  during  which 
most  novels  Avere  read  during  the  first  quarter  of  1898,  except  at  two 
libraries,  \\here  February  and  March  are  equal.  The  result  is  similar  if 
we  ascertain  the  daily  averages  for  the  first  quarter  in  1897,  while  in 
1896  (Avhich,  however,  as  I  have  already  remarked,  is  a  rather  abnormal 
year)  the  daily  average  for  March  in  many  of  the  libraries  falls  below 
that  for  January  as  well  as  for  February.  Again,  when  we  turn  to  the 
other  classes  of  books,  we  find  that  this  predominance  which  February 
possesses,  and  to  some  extent  shares  with  March  and  January,  by  no 
means  exclusively  applies  to  novels.  It  is  not  only  shared  by  both 
music  and  poetry, — which  Avould  fit  in  well  with  the  assumption  of  a 
sexual  nistis,— hut  the  department  of  '"history,  biography,  voyages,  and 
travels"  shares  it  also  with  considerable  regularity;  so  also  does  that  of 
"arts,  sciences,  and  natural  history,"  and  it  is  quite  Avell  marked  in 
"theology,  moral  philosophy,  etc.,"  and  in  "juvenile  literature."  We 
even  have  to  admit  that  the  promptings  of  the  sexual  instinct  bring  an 
increased  body  of  visitors  to  the  reference  library  (where  there  are  no 
novels),  for  here,  also,  both  the  spring  and  autumnal  climaxes  are  quite 
distinct.     Certainly  this  theory  carries  us  a  little  too  far. 

The  main  factor  in  producing  this  very  marked  annual  periodicity 
seems  to  me  to  be  wholly  unconnected  with  the  sexual  impulse.  The 
winter  half  of  the  year  (from  the  beginning  of  October  to  the  end  of 
March),  when  out-door  life  has  lost  its  attractions  and  much  time  must 
be  spent  in  the  house,  is  naturally  the  season  for  reading.  But  during 
the  two  central  months  of  winter,  December  and  January,  the  attraction 
of  reading  meets  with  a  powerful  counter-attraction  in  the  excitement 
produced  by  the  approach  of  Christmas,  and  the  increased  activity  of 
social  life  which  accompanies  and  for  several  weeks  follows  Christmas. 
In  this  way  the  other  four  winter  months — October  and  November  at 
the  autumnal  end  and  February  and  March  at  the  spring  end — must 
inevitably  present  the  tAvo  chief  reading  climaxes  of  the  year;  and  so 
the  reports  of  lending  libraries  present  us  with  figures  which  show  a 
striking,  but  fallacious,  resemblance  to  the  curves  which  are  probably 
produced  by  more  organic  causes. 

I  am  far  from  wishing  to  deny  that  the  impulse  which  draws 
young  men  and  women  to  imaginative   literature   is  unconnected  with 


108  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

the  obscure  promptings  of  the  sexual  instinct.  But,  until  the  disturbing 
influence  I  have  just  pointed  out  is  eliminated,  I  see  no  evidence  here 
for  any  true  seasonal  periodicity.  Possibly  in  prisons — the  value  of 
which  as  laboratories  of  experimental  psychology  we  have  scarcely  yet 
begun  to  realize — more  reliable  evidence  might  be  obtained;  and  those 
French  and  other  prisons  where  novels  are  freely  allowed  to  the  prisoners 
might  yield  evidence  as  regards  the  consumption  of  fiction  as  instructive 
as  that  yielded  at  Clermont  concerning  the  consumption  of  bread. 

Certain  diseases  show  a  verv  resrular  annual  curve.  This  is 
notably  the  ease  with  scarlet  fever.  Caiger  found  that  1008  cases 
of  scarlet  fever  admitted  to  a  London  fever  hospital  during  1890 
showed  a  marked  seasonal  prevalence:  there  was  a  minor  climax 
in  May  (repeated  in  July)  and  a  great  autumnal  climax  in  Oc- 
tober, falling  to  a  minimum  in  December  and  January.  This 
curve  corresponds  closely  to  that  usually  observed  in  London.^ 
That  it  is  not  peculiar  to  London,  or  to  an  urban  district,  I  find 
by  turnins:  at  random  to  the  Countv  Council'?  record  of  a  Cornish 
rural  district  (Truro  Eural  District,  1895).  Although  only  deal- 
ing with  a  handful  of  cases,  this  curve  shows  nearly  the  same 
spring  minor  maximum  (in  April  and  May),  and  precisely  the 
same  autumnal  maximum  in  October,  as  the  large  London  curve. 
How  closely  this  result  resembles  the  sexual  ecbolic  curve  I  need 
not  insist. 

So  persistent  a  disturbing  element  in  spring  and  autumn 
suggests  that  some  physiological  conditions  underlie  it,  and  that 
there  is  a  real  metabolic  disturbance  at  these  times  of  the  year. 
So  few  continuous  observations  have  yet  been  made  on  the 
metabolic  processes  of  the  body  that  it  is  not  easy  to  verify  such 
a  surmise  with  absolute  precision.  Edward  Smith's  investiga- 
tions, so  far  as  they  go,  support  it,  and  Perry-Coste's  long-con- 
tinued observations  of  pulse-frequency  seem  to  show  with  fair 
regularity  a  maximum  in  early  spring  and  another  maximum  in 
late  autumn.  I  may  also  note  that  Haig.  who  has  devoted  many 
years  of  observations  to  the  phenomena  of  uric-acid  excretion, 
finds  that  uric  acid  tends  to  be  highest  in  the  spring  months 


'Lancet,  Juno  G,  1801.     Kdward  Sniitli  had  pointed  out  many  yoara 
earlier  1h;if  scarlft  frvcr  i^  iii(i«t  fntnl  in  periods  of  increasing  vitality. 


THE    niEXOMENA    OF    SEXUAL    PERIODICITY.  109 

(March,  April,  May)  and  lowest  at  the  first  onset  of  cold  in 
October.^ 

Thus,  while  the  sexual  climaxes  of  spring  and  autumn  are 
rooted  in  animal  procreative  cycles  which  in  man  have  found  ex- 
pression in  primitive  festivals, — these,  .again,  perhaps,  strength- 
ening and  developing  the  sexual  rhythm, — they  yet  have  a  wider 
significance.  The}''  constitute  one  among  many  manifestations  of 
spring  and  autumn  physiological  disturbance  corresponding  with 
fair  precision  to  the  vernal  and  autumnal  equinoxes.  They  re- 
semble those  periods  of  atmospheric  tension,  of  storm  and  wind, 
which  accompany  the  spring  and  autumn  phases  in  the  earth^s 
rhythm,  and  they  may  fairly  be  regarded  as  ultimately  a  physio- 
looical  reaction  to  those  cosmic  influences. 


^Haig,  "Uric  Acid,"  4th  edition,  1897,  p.  27. 


AITO-EKOTISM:    A  STUDY  OF  THE  SPOXTAXEOUS 
MANIFEST ATIOXS  OF  THE  SEXUAL  IMPULSE. 


Definition  of  Auio-t'ioti>ni — ^lasuiibation  only  Covers  a  Small 
Portion  of  the  Auto-erotie  Field — The  Importance  of  this  Study,  espe- 
cially To-day — Auto-erotic  Phenomena  in  Animals — Among  Savage  and 
Barbaric  Eaces — The  Japanese  rin-notama  and  other  Special  Instru- 
ments for  Obtaining  Auto-erotic  Gratification — Abuse  of  the  Ordinary 
Implements  and  Objects  of  Daily  Life — The  Frequency  of  Hair-pin  in  the 
JBladder — The  Influence  of  Horse-exercise  and  Raihvav-travelinf]r — The 
Sewing-machine  and  the  Bicycle — Spontaneous  Passive  Sexual  Excite- 
ment— Delectatio  Morosa — Day-dreaming — PoUutio — Sexual  Excitement 
during  Sleep — Differences  in  the  Erotic  Dreams  of  Men  and  Women — 
Tlie  Auto-erotic  Phenomena  of  Sleep  in  the  Hysterical — Their  Frequently 
Painful  Character. 

By  ^•'auto-erotism"  I  mean  the  phenomena*  of  spontaneous 
sexual  emotion  generated  in  the  absence  of  an  external  stimulus 
proceeding,  directly  or  indirectly,  from  another  person.  In  a 
wide  sense,  which  cannot  be  wholly  ignored  here,  auto-erotism 
may  be  said  to  include  those  transformations  of  repressed  sexual 
activity  which  are  a  factor  of  some  morbid  conditions  as  well  as 
of  the  normal  manifestation  of  art  and  poetry,  and,  indeed,  more 
or  less  color  the  whole  of  life. 

Such  a  definition  excludes  the  normal  sexual  excitement 
aroused  by  the  presence  of  a  beloved  person  of  the  opposite  sex; 
it  also  excludes  the  perverted  sexuality  associated  with  an  attrac- 
tion to  a  person  of  the  same  sex:  it  further  excludes  the  mani- 
fold forms  of  erotic  fetichism,  in  which  the  normal  focus  of 
sexual  attraction  is  displaced,  and  voluptuous  emotions  are  only 
aroused  by  some  object — hair,  shoes,  garments,  etc. — which,  to 
the  ordinary  lover,  are  of  subordinate — though  still,  indeed,  con- 
siderable— importance.     The  auto-f-rnlir-  field  remains  extensive; 

(110) 


AUTO-EROTISM.  Ill 

it  ranges  from  occasional  voluptuous  day-dreams,  in  which  the 
subject  is  entirely  passive,  to  the  perpetual  unashamed  efforts  at 
sexual  self-manipulation  witnessed  among  the  insane.  It  also 
includes,  though  chiefly  as  curiosities,  those  cases  in  which  indi- 
viduals fall  in  love  with  themselves.  Among  auto-erotic  phe- 
nomena, or  on  the  border-land,  we  must  further  include  those 
religious  sexual  manifestations  for  an  ideal  object,  of  which  we 
may  find  evidence  in  the  lives  of  saints  and  ecstatics.^  The  typ- 
ical form  of  auto-erotism  is  the  occurrence  of  the  sexual  orgasm 
during  sleep. 

I  do  not  know  that  any  apology  is  needful  for  the  invention 
of  the  term  ^'auto-erotism/*-  There  is  no  existing  word  in  cur- 
rent use  to  indicate  the  whole  range  of  phenomena  I  am  here 
concerned  with.  AYe  are  familiar  with  "masturbation,'"  but  that, 
strictly  speaking,  only  covers  a  special  and  arbitrary  subdivision 
of  the  field,  although,  it  is  true,  the  subdivision  with  which  phy- 
sicians and  alienists  have  chiefly  occupied  themselves.  "Self- 
abuse"  is  somewhat  wider,  but  by  no  means  covers  the  whole 
ground,  while  for  various  reasons  it  is  an  unsatisfactory  term. 
"Onanism*^  is  largely  used,  especially  in  France,  and  some  writers 
even  include  all  forms  of  homosexual  connection  under  this  name; 
it  may  be  convenient  to  do  so  from  a  physiological  point  of  view, 
but  it  is  a  confusing  and  antiquated  mode  of  procedure,  and  from 
the  psychological  stand-point  altogether  illegitimate;  "onanism'' 
ought  never  to  be  used  in  this  connection,  if  only  on  the  ground 
that  Onan's  device  was  not  auto-erotic,  but  was  an  early  example 
of  withdrawal  before  emission,  or  coitus  interrupius. 

While  the  name  that  I  have  chosen  may  possibly  not  be  the 


^  See  Appendix  C. 

-  Letamendi,  of  Madrid,  has  suggested  "aiito-erastin"  to  cover  what 
is  probably  much  the  same  field.  In  the  beginning  of  the  century  Hufe- 
land.  in  his  "Makrobiotic."  invented  the  term  "geistige  Onanie"  to  express 
the  filling  and  heating  of  the  imagination  with  voluptuous  images,  with- 
out unchastity  of  body;  and  in  1844  Kaan.  in  his  "Psychopathia  Sexu- 
alis"  used,  but  did  not  invent,  the  terra  "onania  psycMcaJ'  Gustav 
Jaeger,  in  his  "Entdeckung  der  Seele,"  proposed  "monosexual  idiosyn- 
crasy" to  indicate  the  most  animal  forms  of  masturbation  taking  place 
without  any  correlative  imaginative  element,  a  condition  illustrated  by 
cases  given  in  Moll's  "Untersuchungen  fiber  die  Libido  Sexualis."  B.  i, 
pp.  13  ct  seq.     But  all  these  terms  only  cover  a  portion  of  the  field. 


112  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

best,  there  should  be  no  question  as  to  the  importance  of  group- 
ing all  these  phenomena  together.  It  seems  to  me  that  this  field 
has  rarely  been  viewed  in  a  scientifically  sound  and  morallv  sane 

»/  V  ft. 

light,  simply  because  it  has  not  been  viewed  as  a  whole.  We  have 
made  it  difficult  so  to  view  it  by  directing  our  attention  on  the 
special  group  of  auto-erotic  facts — that  group  included  under 
masturbation — which  was  most  easy  to  observe  and  which  in  an 
extreme  form  came  plainly  under  medical  observation  in  insanity 
and  allied  conditions,  and  we  have  wilfully  torn  this  group  of 
facts  away  from  the  larger  group  to  which  it  naturally  belongs. 
The  questions  which  have  been  so  widel}',  so  diversely,  and — it 
must  unfortunately  be  added — often  so  mischievously  discussed, 
concerning  the  nature  and  evils  of  masturbation  are  not  seen  in 
their  true  light  and  proportions  until  we  realize  that  masturba- 
tion is  but  a  specialized  form  of  a  tendency  which  in  some  form 
or  in  some  degree  normally  affects  not  only  man,  but  all  the 
higher  animals.  From  a  medical  point  of  view  it  is  often  con- 
venient to  regard  masturbation  as  an  isolated  fact;  but  in  order 
to  understand  it  we  must  bear  in  mind  its  relationships.  In  this 
study  of  auto-erotism  I  shall  frequently  have  occasion  to  refer  to 
the  old  entity  of  "masturbation,^^  because  it  has  been  more  care- 
fully studied  than  any  other  part  of  the  auto-erotic  field;  but  I 
hope  it  will  always  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  psychological  sig- 
nificance and  even  the  medical  diagnostic  value  of  masturbation 
cannot  be  appreciated  unless  we  realize  that  it  is  an  artificial  sub- 
division of  a  great  group  of  natural  facts. 

The  study  of  auto-erotism  is  far  from  being  an  unimpor- 
tant or  merely  curious  study.  Yet  psychologists,  medical  and 
non-medical,  almost  without  exception,  treat  its  manifestations — 
when  they  refer  to  tliem  at  all — in  a  dogmatic  and  off-hand  man- 
ner which  is  far  from  scientific.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore, 
that  the  most  widely  divergent  opinions  are  expressed.  Nor  is 
it  surprising  that  ignorant  and  chaotic  notions  among  the  gen- 
eral population  should  lead  to  results  that  would  be  ludicrous  if 
they  were  not  pathetic.  To  mention  one  instance  known  to  me: 
a  maiTied  lady  who  is  a  leader  in  social-purity  movements  and  an 
enthusiast  for  sexual  chastity,  discovered,  through  reading  some 


AUTO-EROTISM.  113 

pamphlet  against  solitary  vice,  that  she  had  herself  been  prac- 
ticing masturbation  for  years  without  knowing  it.  The  pro- 
found anguish  and  hopeless  despair  of  this  woman  in  face  of  what 
she  believed  to  be  the  moral  ruin  of  her  whole  life  cannot  well 
be  described.  It  would  be  easy  to  give  further  examples,  though 
scarcely  a  more  striking  one,  to  s-how  the  utter  confusion  into 
which  we  are  thrown  by  leaving  this  matter  in  the  hands  of  blind 
leaders  of  the  blind.  Moreover,  the  conditions  of  modern  civil- 
ization render  auto-erotism  a  matter  of  increasing  social  sig- 
nificance. As  our  marriage-rate  declines,  and  as  illicit  sexual 
relationships  are,  in  England  at  all  events,  openly  discouraged, 
it  is  absolutely  inevitable  that  auto-erotic  phenomena  of  one  kind 
or  another,  not  only  among  women,  but  also  among  men,  should 
increase  among  us,  both  in  amount  and  intensity.^  It  becomes, 
therefore,  a  matter  of  some  importance,  both  to  the  moralist  and 
the  ■ph3^sician,  to  investigate  the  psychological  nature  of  these 
phenomena  and  to  decide  precisely  what  their  attitude  should 
be  toward  them. 

I  do  not  purpose  here  to  enter  into  a  thorough  discussion  of 
all  the  aspects  of  auto-erotism.  That  would  involve  a  very  ex- 
tensive study  indeed.  I  wish  to  consider  briefly  certain  salient 
points  concerning  auto-erotic  phenomena,-  especially  their  prev- 
alence, their  nature,  and  their  moral,  physical,  and  other  effects. 
I  base  my  study  partly  on  the  facts  and  opinions  which  during 
the  last  twenty  years  have  been  scattered  through  the  periodical 
and  other  medical  literature  of  Europe  and  America;  and  partly 
on  the  experience  of  individuals,  especially  of  fairly  normal  in- 
dividuals. I  could  wish  information  gained  in  the  latter  way  more 
extensive,  but  unfortunately  the  number  of  normal  persons  whom 
one  may  question  on  such  points  with  the  certainty  of  receiving 
reliable  answers  is  necessarily  limited. 


^A  friend  Uving  in  India  writes:  "From  certain  facts  which  have 
lately  come  to  my  knowledge,  I  believe  masturbation  is  not  uncommon 
among  Englishmen  in  India,  who,  unless  they  are  married,  are  quite  cut 
off  from  any  intercourse  with  white  women.  Many  of  them  have  an 
intense  repugnance  to  sexual  relations  with  native  women,  and  are 
practically  forced  to  help  themselves  in  some  other  way.  In  the  cases 
I  know  of  neither  health  nor  mental  power  seems  to  have  suffered." 

8 


114  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

Among  animals  in  isolation,  and  sometimes  in  freedom — 
though  this  can  less  often  be  observed — it  is  well  known  that 
various  forms  of  spontaneous  solitary  sexual  excitement  occur. 
Horses  when  leading  a  laz}-  life  may  be  observed  flapping  the 
penis  until  some  degree  of  emission  takes  place.  Welsh  ponies, 
I  learn  from  a  man  who  has  had  much  experience  with  these  ani- 
mals, habitually  produce  erections  and  emissions  in  their  stalls; 
they  do  not  bring  their  hind  quarters  up  during  this  process,  and 
they  close  their  eyes,  which  does  not  take  place  when  they  have 
congress  with  mares.  The  same  informant  observed  that  bulls 
and  goats  produce  emissions  by  using  their  forelegs  as  a  stim- 
ulus, bringing  up  their  hind  quarters,  and  mares  rub  themselves 
against  objects.  Stags  in  the  rutting  season,  when  they  have  no 
partners,  rub  themselves  against  trees  to  produce  ejaculation. 
Sheep  masturbate;  as  also  do  camels,  pressing  themselves  down 
against  convenient  objects;  and  elephants  compress  the  penis 
between  the  hind  legs  to  obtain  emissions.  Blumenbach  observed 
a  bear  act  somewhat  similarly  on  seeing  other  bears  coupling. 
Mammary  masturbation,  remarks  Fere,  is  found  in  certain  female 
and  even  male  animals,  like  the  dog  and  the  cat.^  Apes  are  much 
given  to  masturbation,  even  in  freedom,  according  to  the  evidence 
of  good  observers;  while  no  female  apes  are  celebates,  many  of 
the  males  are  obliged  to  lead  a  life  of  celibacy.-  Male  monkeys 
use  the  hand  in  masturbation,  to  rub  and  shake  the  penis. ^ 

In  the  human  species  these  phenomena  are  by  no  means 
found  in  civilization  alone.  To  whatever  extent  masturbation 
may  have  been  developed  by  the  conditions  of  European  life, 
which  carrv  to  the  utmost  extreme  the  concomitant  stimulation 
and  repression  of  the  sexual  emotions,  it  is  far  from  being,  as 
^fnutoirnzza  has  declared  it  to  be,  one  of  the  moral  characteristics 


1 


YOiO,  "Perversions  se.xuelles  chez  les  aniniau.x,"  Revue  Pliiloso- 
phique.  May,  1897. 

•Tillier.  "f.'Ttistinct  Sexuel."  1889,  p.  270. 

^Moll,  "I.ibido  Sexualis."  B.  1,  p.  7C.  The  same  author  mentions 
(ibid.,  p.  'M'.i)  that  parrots  living  in  solitary  confinement  masturbate  by 
rub})infr  the  posterior  part  of  the  body  against  some  object  tintil  ejaeula- 
tidji   occurs. 


AUTO-EllOTISM.  115 

of  Europeans.^  It  is  found  among  the  people  of  nearly  every 
race  of  which  we  have  any  intimate  knowledge,  however  natural 
the  conditions  under  which  men  and  women  may  live.-  Thus, 
among  the  Xama  Hottentots,  among  the  young  women,  at  all 
events,  Gustav  Fritsch  found  that  masturbation  is  so  common 
that  it  is  regarded  as  a  custom  of  the  country;  no  secret  is  made 
of  it,  and  in  the  stories  and  legends  of  the  race  it  is  treated  as 
one  of  the  most  ordinary  facts  of  life.  It  is  so  also  among  the 
Basutos,  and  the  Katlirs  are  addicted  to  the  same  habit. '^  When 
the  Spaniards  first  arrived  at  Vizaya  and  the  Philippines,  they 
found  that  masturbation  was  universal,  and  that  it  was  customary 
for  the  women  to  use  an  artificial  penis  and  other  abnormal 
methods  of  sexual  gratification.  Among  the  Balinese,  according 
to  Jacobs  (as  quoted  by  Ploss  and  Bartels),  masturbation  is  gen- 
eral; in  the  boudoir  of  many  a  Bali  beauty,  he  adds,  and  certainly 
in  every  harem,  may  be  found  a  wax  penis  to  which  many  hours 
of  solitude  are  devoted.  Throughout  the  East,  as  Eram,  speak- 
ing from  a  long  medical  experience,  has  declared,  masturbation 
is  very  prevalent,  especially  among  young  girls.  In  India,  a  med- 
ical correspondent  tells  me,  he  once  treated  the  w^idow  of  a 
wealthy  Mohammedan,  who  informed  him  that  she  began  mas- 
turbation at  an  early  age,  ^^just  like  all  other  women.^'  The  same 
informant  tells  me  that  on  the  fagade  of  a  large  temple  in  Orissa 
are  bas-reliefs,  representing  both  men  and  women,  alone,  mas- 


^  Dr.  J.  W.  Howe  ("Excessive  Venery,  Masturbation,  and  Conti 
nenee."  London  and  New  York,  1883,  p.  62)  writes  of  masturbation:  "In 
savage  lands  it  is  of  rare  occurrence.  Savages  live  in  a  state  of  Nature. 
No  moral  obligations  exist  which  compel  them  to  abstain  from  a  natural 
gratification  of  their  passions.  There  is  no  social  law  which  prevents 
them  from  following  the  dictates  of  their  lower  nature.  Hence,  they 
have  no  reason  for  adopting  onanism  as  an  outlet  for  passions.  The 
moral  trammels  of  civilized  society  and  ignorance  of  physiological  laws 
give  origin  to  the  vice."  Every  one  of  these  six  sentences  is  incorrect  or 
misleading.  They  are  worth  quoting  as  a  statement  of  the  popular  view 
of  savage  life. 

-I  cannot  recall  any  evidence  of  its  existence  among  the  Australian 
aborigines.  Thus.  Dr.  W.  Roth  ("Ethnological  Studies  among  the  North- 
west-Central Queensland  Aborigines,"  p.  184),  who  has  carefully  studied 
the  blacks  of  his  district,  remarks  that  he  has  no  evidence  as  to  the 
practice  of  either  masturbation  or  sodomy  among  them. 

^  Greenlees,  Journal  of  Mental  Science,  July,  1895. 


ll(i  PSYCHOLOGY   OF    SEX. 

turbating,  and  also  women  masturbating  men.  Among  the 
Tamils  of  Ceylon  masturbation  is  said  to  be  common.  In  Cochin 
China,  Lorion  remarks,  it  is  practiced  by  both  sexes,  but  espe- 
cially by  the  married  women. ^  Japanese  women  have  probably 
carried  the  mechanical  arts  of  auto-erotism  to  the  highest  deorree 
of  perfection.  They  use  two  hollow  balls  about  the  size  of  a 
pigeon^s  egg  (sometimes  one  alone  is  used),  which,  as  described 
by  Joest,  Christian,  and  others,-  are  made  of  very  thin  leaf  of 
brass;  one  is  empty,  the  other  (called  the  little  man)  contains  a 
small  heavy  metal  ball,  or  else  some  quicksilver,  and  sometimes 
metal  tongues,  which  vibrate  when  set  in  movement;  so  that  if 
the  balls  are  held  in  the  hand  side  by  side  there  is  a  continuous 
movement.  The  empty  one  is  first  introduced  into  the  vagina 
in  contact  with  the  uterus,  then  the  other;  the  slightest  move- 
ment of  the  pelvis  or  thighs,  or  even  spontaneous  movement  of 
the  organs,  causes  the  metal  ball  (or  the  quicksilver)  to  roll,  and 
the  resulting  vibration  produces  a  prolonged  voluptuous  titilla- 
tion,  a  gentle  shock  as  from  a  weak  electric  inductive  apparatus; 
the  balls  are  called  rin-no-tama,  and  are  held  in  tlie  vagina  by 
a  paper  tampon.  The  women  who  use  these  balls  delight  to  swing 
themselves  in  a  hammock  or  rocking-chair,  the  delicate  vibration 
of  the  balls  slowly  producing  the  highest  degree  of  sexual  excite- 
ment. Joest  mentions  that  this  apparatus,  though  well  known 
by  name  to  ordinary  girls,  is  chiefly  used  by  the  more  fashionable 
geishas,  as  well  as  by  prostitutes.  Its  use  has  now  spread  to 
China,  Annam,  and  India.  In  China,  also,  the  artificial  penis — 
made  of  rosin,  supple  and  (like  the  classical  instrument  described 
by  Ilerondas)  rose-colored — is  publicly  sold  and  widely  used  by 
women. 

It  may  be  noticed  that  among  non-European  races  it   is 
among  women,  and  especially  among  those  who  are  subjected  to 


'"La  Criminalite  en  Cochin-Chino,"  1S87,  ]).  110;  also  MondiOro, 
"Monograpliio  do  la  Femmo  Aiinaniite."  Mcmoires  Soci6t6  d'Anthro- 
polo^ie.  tome  ii,  p.  4(1"). 

-  Christian,  article  on  "Onanisino."  Dictionnairo  cncycldix'diquc  dcs 
sciences  niedicales;  Ploss  and  I^artcls,  "Das  Weib";  Morap;lia,  "Die 
Onanic  hoini  normalen  Weibe,"  Zeitschrift  fiir  Criminal-Anthropologie, 
1897. 


AUTO-EROTISM.  117 

the  excitement  of  a  life  professionally  devoted  to  some  form  of 
pleasure,  that  the  use  of  the  artificial  instruments  of  auto-erotism 
is  chiefly  practiced.  The  same  is  markedly  true  in  Europe.  The 
use  of  an  artificial  penis  in  solitary  sexual  gratification  may  be 
traced  down  from  classical  times. ^  The  Lesbian  women  are  said 
to  have  used  such  instruments  made  of  ivory  or  gold,  with  silken 
stuffs  and  linen.  Aristophanes  ("Lysistrata/'  v.  109)  speaks  of 
the  use  by  the  Milesian  women  of  a  leather  artificial  penis,  or 
olisbos.  In  the  British  Museum  is  a  vase  representing  a  hetaira 
holding  such  instruments,  which,  as  found  at  Pompeii,  may  be 
seen  in  the  museum  at  Xaples.  One  of  the  best  of  Herondas's 
mimes,  "The  Private  Conversation,'''  presents  a  dialogue  between 
two  ladies  concerning  a  certain  olishos  (or  fjaviSdiV  ),  which  one 
of  them  vaunts  as  a  dream  of  delight.  Through  the  middle  ages 
(when  from  time  to  time  the  clergy  reprobated  the  use  of  such 
instruments)  to  the  Elizabethan  age,  when  Marston,  in  his  satires, 
tells  how  Lucea  prefers  "a  glassy  instrument"  to  "'her  husband^s 
lukewarm  bed,"  dowm  to  the  present  day,  somewhat  similar  ap- 
pliances may  be  traced  in  all  centres  of  civilization.  But  through- 
out they  appear  to  be  largely  confined  to  the  world  of  prostitutes 
and  to  those  women  who  live  on  the  fashionable  or  semi-artistic 
verge  of  that  world.  Ignorance  and  delicacy  combine  with  a  less 
versatile  and  perverted  concentration  on  the  sexual  impulse  to 
prevent  any  general  recourse  to  such  highly  specialized  methods 
of  solitar}'  gratification. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  use,  or  rather  abuse,  of  the  ordinary 
objects  and  implements  of  daily  life  in  obtaining  auto-erotic 
gratification,  among  the  ordinary  population  in  civilized  modern 
lands,  has  reached  an  extraordinary  degree  of  extent  and  variety 
which  we  can  only  feebly  estimate  by  the  occasional  resulting 
mischances  which  reach  the  surgeon's  hands,  because  only  a  cer- 


^  The  ppiiis  .'^uccrddneust,  remarks  Hurton  in  notes  to  "Arabian 
Nights,"  the  Latin  plmUns  or  fascinum,  is  in  France  called  godcmiche,  in 
Italy  imsmtcmpo  and  also  diJrttn.  whence  dildo.  by  which  it  is  most 
commonly  known  in  England.  For  men  the  corresponding  cumnis  siic- 
ccdanens  is  in  England  called  merK'in,  which  meant  originally  (as  defined 
in  old  editions  of  Bailey's  "Dictionary")  "counterfeit  hair  for  women's 
private  parts." 


118  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

tain  proportion  of  such  instruments  are  dangerous.  Thus  the 
banana  seems  to  he  widely  used  for  masturbation  by  women,  and 
appears  to  be  marked  out  for  the  purpose  by  its  size  and  shape 
(the  mythology  of  Hawaii,  one  may  note,  tells  of  goddesses  who 
were  impregnated  by  bananas  they  had  placed  beneath  their  gar- 
ments); it  is,  however,  innocuous,  and  never  comes  under  the 
surgeon's  notice;  the  same  may  probably  be  said  of  the  cucum- 
bers and  other  vegetables  more  especially  used  by  country  and 
factory  girls  in  masturbation:  a  lady  living  near  Vichy  told 
Pouillet  that  she  had  often  heard  (and  had  herself  been  able  to 
verify  the  fact)  that  the  young  peasant  Avomen  commonly  used 
turnips,  carrots,  and  beet-roots.  In  the  last  century  Mirabeau, 
in  his  "Erotika  Biblion,"  gave  a  list  of  the  various  objects  used 
in  convents  (which  he  describes  as  "vast  theatres"  of  such  prac- 
tices) to  obtain  solitarv  sexual  excitement.  In  more  recent  years 
the  following  are  a  few  of  the  objects  found  in  the  vagina  or  blad- 
der whence  they  could  only  be  removed  by  surgical  interference:^ 
Pencils,  sticks  of  sealing-wax,  cotton-reels,  hair-pins  (and  in  Italy 
very  commonly  the  bone-pins  used  in  the  hair),  bodkins,  knitting- 
needles,  crochet-needles,  needle-cases,  compasses,  glass  stoppers, 
candles,  corks,  tumblers,  forks,  tooth-picks,  tooth-brushes,  pom- 
ade-pots (in  a  case  recorded  by  Schroeder  with  a  cockchafer  in- 
side, a  makeshift  substitute  for  the  Japanese  rin-no-tama),  while 
in  one  recent  English  case  a  full-sized  hen's  cg^^  was  removed 
from  the  vagina  of  a  middle-aged  married  woman.  More  than 
nine-tenths  of  the  foreign  bodies  found  in  the  female  bladder 
or  urethra  are  due  to  masturbation.  The  age  of  the  individuals 
in  whom  such  objects  have  been  found  is  usually  from  17  to  30, 
1)iit  in  n  few  en>os  tliov  have  been  found  in  2firls  below  11,  in- 


*  See,  e.f}..  ^\■iTlr•kcl.  "Die  Kiiinklicitoii  dor  woiblichcn  llanirolirc  iind 
Blase,"  188.5!  p.  211:  juul  "r.olirbiich  dor  Friuionkrankhoilon."'  lSS(i,  p. 
210.  fJriinfold  (\\'ionor  modieinisohor  l^laitor,  Xovoiiibor  20,  189G),  col- 
loctcd  115  cases  of  foreign  body  in  the  bladder— 08  in  men,  47  in  women; 
hut  Avhile  those  found  in  men  were  usually  the  result  of  a  surgical  acci- 
dent, those  found  in  women  were  moslly  introduced  by  the  ])atients 
themselves.  The  ])atient  usually  ])rofesses  profound  ifjuorance  as  to  how 
the  object  came  there;  or  she  explains  that  she  accidentally  sat  down 
U[)on  it.  or  fin  Ihe  case  of  ihe  bhulder)  that  she  used  it  to  produce  freer 
urination. 


AUTO-EROTISM.  119 

frequently  in  women  between  40  and  50;  the  large  objects, 
naturally,  are  found  chiefly  in  the  vagina,  and  in  married  women. ^ 
Hair-pins  have,  above  all,  been  found  in  the  female  bladder 
with  special  frequency;  this  point  is  worth  some  consideration 
as  an  illustration  of  the  enormous  frequency  of  this  form  of  auto- 
erotism. The  female  urethra  is  not  usually  regarded  as  a  normal 
centre  of  sexual  feeling;  so  that  the  introduction  of  an  object 
into  it  can  only  occur  by  mistake  or  by  perversion  of  sexual  feel- 
ing.- It  should  be  added  that  when  once  introduced  the  physio- 
logical mechanism  of  the  bladder  apparently  causes  the  organ  to 
tend  to  "swallow"  the  object.  Moreover,  for  every  case  in  which 
the  hair-pin  disappears  and  is  lost  in  the  bladder,  from  careless- 
ness or  the  oblivion  of  the  sexual  spasm,  there  must  be  a  vast 
number  of  cases  in  which  the  instrument  is  used  without  any 
such  unfortunate  result.  There  is  thus  great  significance  in  the 
frequency  w4th  which  cases  of  hair-pin  in  the  bladder  are  strewn 
throughout  the  medical  literature  of  all  countries.  In  1862  a 
German  surgeon  found  the  accident  so  common  that  he  invented 
a  special  instrument  for  extracting  hair-pins  from  the  female 
bladder,  as,  indeed,  Italian  and  French  surgeons  have  also  done. 
In  France,  Denuce,  of  Bordeaux,  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
hair-pin  in  the  bladder  is  the  commonest  result  of  masturbation 
as  known  to  the  surgeon.  In  England  cases  are  constantly  being 
recorded.  In  Xew  York  one  physician  met  with  four  cases  in  a 
short  experience.^  In  Switzerland  Professor  Eeverdin  had  a  pre- 
cisely similar  experience.* 


^  A.  Poulet,  "Traite  des  Corps  strangers  en  Chirurgie,*'  1879.  Eng- 
lish translation,  1881,  vol.  ii,  pp.  209-239.  Rohleder  ("Die  Masturbation," 
1899,  pp.  24-31)  also  gives  examples  of  strange  objects  found  in  the 
sexual  organs. 

-  Pouillet,  however,  has  suggested  that  the  glands  around  the 
meatus  and  the  erectile  tissue  of  the  urethra  render  this  region  a  centre 
of  voluptuous  sensation. 

^  Dudley,  American  Journal  of  Obstetrics,  July,  1889,  p.  758. 

*  A.  Reverdin,  "Epingles  a  Cheveux  dans  la  Vessie,"  Revue  Medicale 
de  la  Suisse  Romande.  January  20,  1888.  His  cases  are  fully  recorded 
and  his  paper  is  an  able  and  interesting  contribution  to  this  by-way  of 
sexual  psychology.  The  first  case  was  a  school-master's  wife,  aged  22, 
who  confessed  in  her  husband's  presence,  without  embarrassment  or  hesi- 
tation, that  the  maneuver  was  habitual,  learned  from  a  school-companion, 
and  continued  after  marriage.     The  second  was  a  single  woman  of  42, 


12U  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

There  is,  however,  another  class  of  material  objects,  widely 
employed  for  producing  physical  aiito-erotism,  which  in  the 
nature  of  things  never  reaches  the  surgeon.  I  refer  to  the  effects 
that,  naturally  or  unnaturally,  may  be  produced  by  many  of  the 
implements  of  daily  life  that  do  not  come  in  direct  contact  with 
the  sexual  organs.  Children  sometimes,  even  when  scarcely  more 
than  infants,  produce  sexual  excitement  by  friction  against  the 
corner  of  a  chair  or  other  piece  of  furniture,  and  women  some- 
times do  the  same.^  Girls  in  France,  I  am  informed,  are  fond  of 
riding  on  the  chevaux-de-hois,  or  hobby  horses,  because  of  the 
sexual  excitement  thus  aroused;  and  that  the  sexual  emotions 
play  a  part  in  the  fascination  exerted  by  this  form  of  amusement 
everywhere  is  indicated  by  the  ecstatic  faces  of  its  devotees.  At 
the  temples  in  some  parts  of  Central  India,  I  am  told,  swings  are 
hung  up  in  pairs,  men  and  women  swinging  in  these  until  sex- 
ually excited;  during  the  months  when  the  men  in  these  dis- 
tricts have  to  be  away  from  home  the  girls  put  up  swings  to  con- 
sole themselves  for  the  loss  of  their  husbands. 

Several  writers  have  pointed  out  that  riding,  especially  in 
women,  may  produce  sexual  excitement  and  orgasm.-  It  is  well 
known,  also,  that  both  in  men  and  women  the  vibratory  motion 
of  a  railway-train  frequently  produces  a  certain  degree  of  sexual 
excitement,  especially  when  sitting  forward.     Such  excitement 


a  ciirc's  servant,  who  attempted  to  elude  confession,  but  on  leavino:  the 
doctor's  house  remarked  to  the  house-maid,  "Never  go  to  bed  without 
takinp^  out  your  hair-])ins;  accidents  liappen  so  easily."  Tlic  third  was 
an  Knglisli  girl  of  17,  who  finally  acknowledged  that  she  had  lost  two 
hair-pins  in  this  way.  The  fourth  was  a  child  of  12.  driven  by  the  pain 
to  confess  that  the  practice  had  become  a  habit  with  her. 

^  "One  of  my  patients,"  remarks  Dr.  E.  T.  ]Morris,  of  New  York 
("Transactions  of  the  American  Association  of  Obstetricians  for  1892." 
Philadelphia,  vol.  v),  "who  is  a  devout  church-member,  liad  never  al- 
lowed herself  to  entertain  sexual  thouglits  referring  to  men.  but  she 
masturl)ated  every  morning  when  standing  before  the  mirror,  by  rubbing 
against  a  key  in  the  bureau-drawer.  A  man  never  excited  her  ])assions, 
but  the  sight  of  a  key  in  any  bureau-drawer  aroused  erotic  desires." 

^  The  fact  that  horse-exercises  may  produce  pollutions  was  well 
recognized  by  Catholic  theologians,  and  Sanchez  states  that  this  fact 
need  not  be  made  a  reason  for  traveling  on  foot.  Rohleder  ("Die  Mas- 
turbation," pp.  13.3-134)  brings  together  evidenc(>  regarding  tlie  influence 
of  horse-exercise   in  j)roducing  sexual  excitement. 


AUTO-EROTISM.  121 

may  remain  latent  and  not  become  specifically  sexual.^  I  am  not 
aware  that  this  quality  of  railway-traveling  has  ever  been  fostered 
as  a  sexual  perversion,  but  the  sewing-machine,  especially  in 
France,  has  attracted  considerable  attention  on  account  of  its 
influence  in  exciting  auto-erotic  manipulations.  According  to 
one  French  authority,  it  is  a  well-recognized  fact  that  to  work  a 
sewing-machine  with  the  body  in  a  certain  position  produces  sex- 
ual excitement  leading  to  the  orgasm.  The  occurrence  of  the 
orgasm  is  indicated  to  the  observer  by  the  machine  being  worked 
for  a  few  seconds  with  uncontrollable  rapidity.  This  sound  is 
said  to  be  frequently  heard  in  large  French  work-rooms,  and  it 
is  part  of  the  duty  of  the  superintendents  of  the  rooms  to  make 
the  girls  sit  properl}^^ 

"During  a  visit  which  I  once  paid  to  a  manufactory  of  military 
clothing,"  Pouillet  writes,  "I  witnessed  the  ioUowing  scene:  — 

"In  the  midst  of  the  uniform  sound  produced  by  some  thirty  sew- 
ing-machines. I  suddenly  heard  one  of  the  machines  working  with  much 
more  velocity  than  the  others.  I  looked  at  the  person  who  was  working 
it,  a  brunette  of  18  or  20.  While  she  was  automatically  occupied  with 
the  trousers  she  was  making  on  the  machine  her  face  became  animated, 
her  mouth  opened  slightly,  her  nostrils  dilated,  her  feet  moved  the  pedals 
Avith  constantly  increasing  rapidity.  Soon  I  saw  a  convulsive  look  in 
her  eyes,  her  eyelids  were  lowered,  her  face  turned  pale  and  was  thrown 
backward;  hands  and  legs  stopped  and  became  extended;  a  suffocated 
cry,  followed  by  a  long  sigh,  was  lost  in  the  noise  of  the  work-room. 
The  girl  remained  motionless  a  few  seconds,  drew  out  her  hankerchief 
to  wipe  a\\ay  the  pearls  of  sweat  from  her  forehead,  and  after  casting 
a  timid  and  ashamed  glance  at  her  companions  resumed  her  work. 
The  forewoman,  who  acted  as  my  guide,  having  observed  the  direction 
of  my  gaze,  took  me  up  to  the  girl,  who  blushed,  lowered  her  face,  and 
murmured  some  incoherent  words  before  the  forewoman  had  opened  her 
mouth,  to  advise  her  to  sit  fully  on  tlie  chair,  and  not  on  its  edge. 

"As  I  was  leaving  I  heard  another  machine  at  another  part  of  the 


^  A  correspondent  to  whom  the  idea  was  presented  for  the  first 
time,  wrote:  "Henceforward  I  shall  know  to  what  I  must  attribute  the 
bliss — almost  the  beatitude — I  so  often  have  experienced  after  traveling 
for  four  or  five  hours  in  a  train."  Penta  mentions  the  case  of  a  young 
girl  who  first  experienced  sexual  desire  at  the  age  of  twelve  after  a  rail- 
way journey. 

^Pouillet,  "L'onanisme  chez  la  Femme,"  Paris,  1880;  Foumier,  "De 
I'onanisme,"  1885;    Rohleder,  "Die  Masturbation,'    p.   132. 


122  PSYCHOLOGY   OF    SEX. 

room  in  accelerated  movement.  The  forewoman  smiled  at  me,  and  re- 
marked that  that  was  so  frequent  that  it  attracted  no  notice.  It  was 
specially  observed,  she  told  me,  in  the  case  of  young  work-girls,  ap- 
prentices, and  those  who  sat  on  the  edge  of  their  seats,  thus  much  facili- 
tating friction  of  the  labia." 

In  cases  where  the  sewing-machine  does  not  lead  to  direct 
self-excitement,  it  has  been  held,  as  b}^  Fothergill/  to  predispose 
to  frequency  of  involuntary  sexual  orgasm  during  sleep,  from  the 
irritation  set  up  by  the  movement  of  the  feet  in  the  sitting 
posture  during  the  da}^  The  essential  movement  in  working  the 
sewino:-machine  is  the  flexion  and  extension  of  the  ankle,  but 
the  muscles  of  the  thighs  are  used  to  maintain  the  feet  firmly 
on  the  treadle,  the  thighs  are  held  together,  and  there  is  a  con- 
siderable degree  of  flexion  or  extension  of  the  thighs  on  the 
trunk;  by  a  special  adjustment  of  the  body,  and  sometimes  per- 
haps merely  in  the  presence  of  sexual  hyperesthesia,  it  is  thus 
possible  to  act  upon  the  sexual  organs;  but  this  is  by  no  means 
a  necessary  result  of  using  the  sewing-machine,  and  inquiry  of 
various  women,  with  well-developed  sexual  feelings,  who  are  ac- 
customed to  work  the  treadle,  has  not  shown  the  presence  of  any 
tendency  in  this  direction. 

Sexual  irritation  may  also  be  produced  by  the  bicycle  in 
women.  Thus,  Moll-  remarks  that  he  knows  many  married 
women,  and  some  unmarried,  who  experience  sexual  excitement 
when  cycling;  in  several  cases  he  has  ascertained  that  the  excite- 
ment is  carried  as  far  as  complete  orgasm.  This  result  cannot, 
however,  easily  happen  unless  the  seat  is  too  high,  the  peak  in 
contact  with  the  organs,  and  a  rolling  movement  is  adopted;  in 
the  absence  of  marked  hyperesthesia  these  results  are  only  ef- 
fected by  a  bad  seat  or  an  improper  attitude,  the  body  during 
cycling  resting  under  proper  conditions  on  the  buttocks,  and 
tlie  work  being  mainly  done  by  the  muscles  of  the  thighs  and 
legs  which  control  the  ankles,  flexion  of  the  thigh  on  the  pelvis 
being  very  small.  Most  medical  authorities  on  cycling — English, 
French,  and  American — are  of  opinion  that  when  cycling  leads 


'  "West-Kiding  Asvlum  Koports."  187G.  vol.  vi. 
-"Das  Nervr.se  Weib,"  185)8,  p.   193. 


AUTO-EROTiSM.  123 

to  sexual  excitement  the  fault  lies  more  with  the  woman  than 
with  the  machine.  This  conclusion  docs  not  appear  to  me  to  be 
absolutely  correct.  I  find  on  inquiry  that  with  the  old-fashioned 
saddle,  with  an  elevated  peak  rising  toward  the  pubes,  a  certain 
degree  of  sexual  excitement,  not  usually  producing  the  orgasm 
(but,  as  one  lady  expressed  it,  making  one  feel  quite  ready  for  it) 
is  fairly  common  among  women.  Professor  Lydston  finds  that 
irritation  of  the  genital  organs  may  unquestionably  be  produced 
in  both  males  and  females  by  cycling.  The  aggravation  of  hem- 
orrhoids sometimes  produced  by  cycling  indicates  also  the  tend- 
ency to  local  congestion.  With  the  improved  fiat  saddles,  how- 
ever, constructed  with  more  definite  adjustment  to  the  anatomical 
formation  of  the  parts,  this  general  tendency  is  reduced  to  a 
negligible  minimum. 

In  a  further  class  of  cases  no  external  object  whatever  is  used 
to  procure  the  sexual  orgasm,  but  the  more  or  less  voluntary 
pressure  of  the  thighs  alone  is  brought  to  bear  upon  the  sexual 
regions.  It  is  done  either  when  sitting  or  standing,  the  thighs 
being  placed  together  and  firmly  crossed,  and  the  pelvis  rocked 
so  that  the  sexual  organs  are  pressed  against  the  inner  and  poste- 
rior parts  of  the  thighs.^  This  is  sometimes  done  by  men,  and  is 
fairly  common  among  women,  especially,  according  to  Marti- 
neau,-  among  those  who  sit  much,  such  as  dress-makers  and 
milliners,  those  who  use  the  sewing-machine,  and  those  who  ride. 
Vedeler  remarks  that  in  his  experience  in  Scandinavia  thigli- 
friction  is  the  commonest  form  of  masturbation  in  women.  It 
is  found  in  female  infants.  Thus,  Townsend  records  the  case  of 
an  infant,  8  months  old,  who  would  cross  Ker  right  thigh  over 
the  left,  close  her  eves  and  clench  her  fists;  after  a  minute  or  two 


^  Some  women  are  also  able  to  produce  the  orgasm.  Avlien  in  a  state 
of  sexual  excitement,  by  placing  a  cushion  between  the  knees  and  press- 
ing the  thighs  firmly  together. 

■^  "LcQons  sur  les  Deformations  Vulvaires,"  p.  G4.  Martineau  Avas 
informed  by  a  dress-maker  that  it  is  very  frequent  in  work-rooms  and 
can  usually  be  done  without  attracting  attention.  An  ironcr  informed 
him  that  while  standing  at  her  work  she  crossed  her  legs,  slightly  bend- 
ing the  trunk  forward  and  su])porting  herself  on  the  table  by  the  hands; 
then  a  few  movements  of  contraction  of  the  adductor  muscles  of  the 
thigh  would  suffice  to  produce  the  orgasm. 


124  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

there  would  be  complete  relaxation,  with  sweating  and  redness 
of  face;  this  would  occur  about  once  a  week  or  oftener;  the  child 
was  quite  healthy,  with  no  abnormal  condition  of  the  genital 
organs/ 

Most  of  the  foregoing  examples  of  auto-erotism  are  com- 
monly included,  by  no  means  correctly,  under  the  heading  of 
^'masturbation/''  There  are,  however,  a  vast  number  of  people, 
possessing  strong  sexual  emotions  and  living  a  solitary  life,  who 
experience,  sometimes  by  instinct  and  sometimes  on  moral 
grounds,  a  strong  repugnance  for  these  manifestations  of  auto- 
erotism. As  one  highly  intelligent  lady  writes:  ^*T  have  some- 
times wondered  whether  I  could  produce  it  (complete  sexual 
excitement)  mechanically,  but  I  have  a  curious  unreasonable 
repugnance  to  trying  the  experiment.  It  would  materialize  it  too 
much."  The  same  repugnance  may  be  traced  in  the  tendency 
to  avoid,  so  far  as  possible,  the  use  of  the  hands.  It  is  quite 
common  to  find  this  instinctive  unreasoning  repugnance  among 
women,  a  healthy  repugnance,  not  founded  on  any  moral  ground. 
In  men  the  same  repugnance  exists,  more  often  combined  with, 
or  replaced  by,  a  very  strong  moral  and  esthetic  objection  to  such 
practices.  But  the  presence  of  such  a  repugnance,  however  in- 
vincible, is  very  far  from  carrying  us  outside  the  auto-erotic 
field.  The  production  of  the  sexual  orgasm  is  not  necessarily 
dependent  on  any  external  contact  or  voluntary  mechanical  cause. 

As  an  example,  though  not  of  specifically  auto-erotic  mani- 
festations, I  may  mention  the  case  of  a  man  of  57,  a  somewhat 
eccentric  preacher,  etc.,  who  writes:  "My  whole  nature  goes  out 
so  to  some  persons,  and  they  thrill  and  stir  me  so  that  I  have  an 
emission  while  sitting  by  them  with  no  thought  of  sex,  only  the 
gladness  of  soul  found  its  way  out  thus,  and  a  glow  of  health 
suffused  the  whole  body.  There  was  no  spasmodic  conclusion, 
but  a  pleasing  gentle  sensation  as  the  few  drops  of  semen  passed." 
(In  reality,  no  doubt,  not  semen,  but  prostatic  fluid.)  This  man's 
condition  mav  cortnirilv  bo  considered  somewhat  morbid;   he  is 


'  ('.  \V.  'rownsciul,  '•'rhijrh-fiic'tion  in  Children  under  one  Year." 
Annual  Moclinj?  of  flic  Anicriciin  Pediatric  Society,  Montreal,  189(5.  Five 
cases  are  recorded  bv   this   writer,  all   in   female  infants. 


AUTO-EROTISM.  125 

attracted  to  both  men  and  women,  and  the  sexual  impulse  seems 
to  be  irritable  and  weak;  but  a  similar  state  of  things  exists  so 
often  in  women,  no  doubt  due  to  sexual  repression,  and  in  indi- 
viduals who  are  in  a  general  state  of  normal  and  good  health,  that 
in  these  it  can  scarcely  be  called  morbid.  Brooding  on  sex- 
ual images,  which  the  theologians  termed  delectatio  morosa,  may 
lead  to  spontaneous  orgasm  in  either  sex,  even  in  perfectly  nor- 
mal persons.  If  the  orgasm  occurs  spontaneously,  without  the 
aid  of  mental  impressions,  or  any  manipulations  ad  hoc,  though 
under  such  conditions  it  ceases  to  be  sinful  from  the  theological 
stand-point,  it  certainly  ceases  also  to  be  normal.  Serieux  records 
the  case  of  a  somewhat  neurotic  woman  of  50,  who  had  been  sep- 
arated from  her  husband  for  ten  years,  and  since  lived  a  chaste 
life;  at  this  age,  however,  she  became  subject  to  violent  crises 
of  sexual  orgasm,  which  w^ould  come  on  without  any  accom- 
paniment of  voluptuous  thoughts.  MacGillicuddy  records  three 
cases  of  spontaneous  orgasm  in  women  coming  under  his  notice.^ 
Such  crises  are  frequently  found  in  those  unfortunate  victims  ot 
sexual  repression,  both  men  and  women,  who,  from  moral  reasons, 
ignorance,  or  on  other  grounds,  are  restrained  from  attaining  the 
complete  sexual  orgasm,  but  whose  sexual  emotions  are,  literally, 
continually  dribbling  from  them.  Schrenck-Notzing  knows  a 
lady  who  is  spontaneously  sexually  excited  on  hearing  music  or 
seeing  pictures  without  anything  lascivious  in  them;  she  knows 
nothing  of  sexual  relationships.  Another  lady  is  sexually  ex- 
cited on  seeing  beautiful  and  natural  scenes,  like  the  sea;  sexual 
ideas  are  mixed  up  in  her  mind  with  these  things,  and  the  con- 
templation of  a  specially  strong  and  sympathetic  man  brings  the 
orgasm  on  in  about  a  minute.  Both  these  ladies  "masturbate"  in 
the  streets,  restaurants,  railways,  theatres,  without  anyone  per- 
ceiving it.^  Evidently  under  these  conditions  there  is  a  state 
of  hyperesthetic  weakness.  Such  cases  are  far  from  rare,  but  I 
do  not  purpose  to  deal  with  them  here.  They  may  more  properly 
be  considered  when  dealins^  with  the  sensorv  excitants  of  the 
sexual  emotions. 


^  "i^'imctional  Disorders  of  the  Nervous  System  in  Women,"  p.  114. 
-  Schrenck-Notzing.  "Suggestions-therapie,"  p.  13. 


126  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

There  is,  however,  a  closely  allied  and,  indeed,  overlapping 
form  of  auto-erotism  which  mav  be  considered  here:  I  mean 
that  associated  with  revery,  or  day-dreaming.  Although  this  is  a 
very  common  and  important  form  of  auto-erotism,  besides  being 
in  a  large  proportion  of  cases  the  early  stage  of  masturbation, 
it  appears  to  have  attracted  little  attention.^  The  day-dream 
has,  indeed,  been  studied  in  its  chief  form,  in  the  ^'continued 
story,"  by  Mabel  Learoyd,  of  Wellesley  College.  The  continued 
story  is  an  imagined  narrative,  more  or  less  peculiar  to  the  indi- 
vidual, by  whom  it  is  cherished  with  fondness,  and  regarded  as 
an  especially  sacred  mental  possession,  to  be  shared  only,  if  at 
all,  with  very  sympathizing  friends.  It  is  much  commoner  among 
girls  and  young  women  than  among  bo3'S  and  young  men;  among 
352  persons  of  both  sexes,  47  per  cent,  among  the  women  and 
only  14  per  cent,  among  the  men,  have  any  continued  story. 
The  starting-point  is  an  incident  from  a  book,  or,  more  usually, 
some  actual  experience,  which  the  subject  develops;  the  subject 
is  nearly  always  the  hero  or  the  heroine  of  the  story.  The  growth 
of  the  story  is  favored  by  solitude,  and  lying  in  bed  before  going 
to  sleep  is  the  time  specially  sacred  to  its  cultivation.^  No  dis- 
tinct reference,  perhaps  naturally  enough,  is  made  by  Miss 
Learoyd  to  the  element  of  sexual  emotion  with  which  these  stories 
are  often  strongly  tinged,  and  which  is  frequently  their  real 
motive.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  find,  though  by  no  means  easy 
to  detect,  these  elaborate  and  more  or  less  erotic  day-dreams  in 
young  men  and  especially  young  women.  Eacli  individual  has 
his  own  particular  dream,  which  is  always  varying  or  develojiing, 
but,  except  in  very  imaginative  persons,  to  no  great  extent.  Such 
a  day-dream  is  often  founded  on  a  basis  of  pleasurable  personal 
experience,  and  develops  on  that  basis.  It  may  involve  an  ele- 
ment of  perversity,  even  though  that  element  finds  no  expression 
in  real  life.    It  is,  of  course,  mainly  fostered  by  sexual  abstinence; 


'  J.anct  lias,  liowcvor.  rooontly  used  day-dreaming — whieli  he  calls 
'•rrrnirs  siihcoiisciriits" — to  explain  a  remarkable  rase  of  demon-posses- 
sion which  he  investigated  and  cured,  "Xevroses  et  Idees  fixes."  vol.  i. 
pp.  390  et  seq. 

-"Minor  Stiidics  from  the  Psycholofrical  Laboratory  of  Wellesley 
Collepe."  American  Journal  of  Psychology,  vol.  vii,  No.    1. 


AUTO-EROTISM.  127 

whence  its  frequency  in  young  women.  Most  usually  there  is  little 
attempt  to  realize  it.  It  does  not  necessarily  lead  to  masturba- 
tion, though  it  often  causes  some  sexual  congestion  or  even  spon- 
taneous sexual  orgasm.  The  day-dream  is  a  strictly  private  and 
intimate  experience,  not  only  from  its  very  nature,  but  also  be- 
cause it  occurs  in  images  which  the  subject  finds  great  difficulty 
in  translating  into  language,  even  when  willing  to  do  so.  In 
other  cases  it  is  elaboratelv  dramatic  or  romantic  in  character, 
the  hero  or  heroine  passing  through  many  experiences  before  at- 
tainino^  the  erotic  climax  of  the  storv.  This  climax  tends  to 
develop  in  harmony  with  the  subject's  growing  knowledge  or 
experience;  at  first  merely  a  kiss,  it  may  develop  into  any  refine- 
ment of  voluptuous  gratification.  The  day-dream  may  occur 
either  in  normal  or  abnormal  persons.  Eousseau,  in  his  "Con- 
fessions,'' describes  such  dreams,  in  his  case  combined  with 
masochism  and  masturbation.  A  distinguished  American  nov- 
elist, Hamlin  Garland,  has  admirably  described  in  "Rose  of 
Butchers  Coolly"  the  part  played  in  the  erotic  day-dreams  of  a 
healthy  normal  girl  at  adolescence  by  a  circus-rider,  seen  on  the 
first  visit  to  a  circus,  and  becoming  a  majestic  ideal  to  dominate 
the  girl's  thoughts  for  many  years.  Eaffalovich^  describes  the 
process  by  which  in  sexual  inverts  the  vision  of  a  person  of  the 
same  sex,  perhaps  seen  in  the  streets  or  the  theatre,  is  evoked  in 
solitary  reveries,  producing  a  kind  of  "'psychic  onanism,"  whether 
or  not  it  leads  on  to  physical  manifestations. 

Although  day-dreaming  of  this  kind  has  at  present  been 
very  little  studied,  since  it  loves  solitude  and  secrecy,  and  has 
never  been  counted  of  sufficient  interest  for  scientific  inquisition, 
it  is  really  a  process  of  considerable  importance,  and  occupies  a 
large  part  of  the  auto-erotic  field.  It  is  largely  cultivated  by 
refined  and  imaginative  young  men  and  women  who  lead  a  chaste 
life  and  would  often  be  repelled  by  masturbation.  In  such  per- 
sons, under  such  circumstances,  it  must  be  considered  as  strictly 
normal,  the  inevitable  outcome  of  the  play  of  the  sexual  im- 
pulse.    Xo  doubt  it  may  often  become  morbid,  and  is  never  a 


"Uranisme,"  p.  125. 


128  PSYCHOLOGY   OF    SEX. 

healthy  process  when  indulged  in  to  excess,  as  it  is  liable  to  be 
by  refined  young  people  with  artistic  impulses,  to  whom  it  is  in 
the  highest  degree  seductive  and  insidious/  As  we  have  seen, 
however,  day-dreaming  is  far  from  always  colored  by  sexual  emo- 
tion; yet  it  is  a  significant  indication  of  its  really  sexual  origin 
tliat,  as  I  have  been  informed  by  persons  of  both  sexes,  even  in 
these  apparently  non-sexual  cas€S  it  frequently  ceases  altogether 
on  marriage. 

Even  when  we  have  eliminated  all  these  forms  of  auto- 
erotic  activity,  however  refined,  in  which  the  subject  takes  a 
voluntary  part,  we  have  still  left  unexplored  an  important  por- 
tion of  the  auto-erotic  field,  a  portion  which  many  people  are 
alone  inclined  to  consider  normal:  sexual  orgasm  during  sleep. 
That  under  conditions  of  sexual  abstinence  in  healthy  individuals 
there  must  inevitably  be  some  auto-erotic  manifestations  during 
waking  life  a  careful  study  of  the  facts  compels  us  to  believe. 
There  can  be  no  doubt,  also,  that,  under  the  same  conditions,  the 
occurrence  of  the  complete  orgasm  during  sleep  with,  in  men, 
seminal  emissions,  is  altogether  normal.  Even  Zeus  himself,  as 
Pausanias  has  recorded,  was  liable  to  such  accidents:  a  statement 
which,  at  all  events,  shows  that  to  the  Greek  mind  there  was 
nothing  derogatory  in  such  an  occurrence."  The  Jews,  however, 
regarded  it  as  an  impurity,^  and  the  same  idea  was  transmitted 


^  Tlie  acute  Anstie  remarked  nearly  tliirty  years  ago  in  his  work 
on  "Neuralgia":  "It  is  a  comparatively  frequent  thing  to  see  an  unsocial 
solitary  life  (leading  to  the  habit  of  masturbation)  joined  with  the  bad 
influence  of  an  unhealthy  ambition  prompting  to  premature  and  false 
work  in  literature  and  art."  From  the  literary  side  M.  LOon  Bazalgette 
has  dealt  with  the  tendency  in  much  modern  literature  to  devote  itself 
to  what  he  calls  "menial  onanism,"  of  w  hicli  the  probable  counterpart, 
he  seems  to  hint,  is  a  physical  process  of  auto-erotism.  (LC'on  Bazalgette, 
"L'onanisme  considC'rC'  commc  principe  createur  en  art,"  Magazine  Tnter- 
nalionalc,  September,  18()(),  and  r(>piil)lished  in  the  same  author's  book. 
"L'esprit  Xouveau,"    1898.) 

-  Pausanias,  "Achaia,"  Chapter  XVII.  The  ancient  Babylonians  be- 
lieved in  a  certain  "maid  of  the  night"  who  appeared  to  men  in  sleep 
and  loused  without  satisfying  their  passions.  (Jastrow,  "Religion  of 
Babylonia,"  p.  202.) 

^"If  any  man's  seed  of  copulation  go  out  from  him,  then  he  shall 
bathe  all  his  flesh  in  water  and  be  unclean  until  the  even.  And  every 
gaiiMciil,  and  e\ery  skin,  whereon  is  the  scmhI  of  copulation,  shall  be 
washed  with  water  and  be  unclean  until  the  even."  Leviticus,  XV, 
v.  10  17. 


AUTO-EROTISM.  129 

to  the  Christian  church  and  embodied  in  the  word  pollutio,  by 
which  the  phenomenon  was  designated  in  ecclesiastical  phrase- 
ology. According  to  Billuart  and  other  theologians,  pollution  in 
sleep  is  not  sin,  unless  voluntarily  caused;  if,  however,  it  begins 
in  sleep,  and  is  completed  in  the  half-waking  state,  with  a  sense 
of  pleasure,  it  is  a  venial  sin.  It  is  allowable  to  permit  a  nocturnal 
pollution  to  complete  itself  on  awaking,  if  it  occurs  without  in- 
tention; and  St.  Thomas  even  says:  ^'Si  pollutio  placeat  ut  naturce 
exoneratio  vel  alleviatio,  peccatum  non  creditur." 

Notwithstanding  the  fair  and  logical  position  of  the  more  distin- 
guished Latin  theologians,  there  has  certainly  been  a  widely  prevalent 
belief  in  Catholic  countries  that  pollution  during  sleep  is  a  sin.  In  the 
"Parson's  Tale"  Chaucer  makes  the  parson  say:  "Another  sin  apper- 
taineth  to  lechery  that  cometh  in  sleeping;  and  the  sin  cometh  oft  to 
them  that  be  maidens,  and  eke  to  them  that  be  corrupt;  and  this  sin 
men  clepe  pollution,  that  cometh  in  four  manners";  these  four  manners 
being  (1)  languishing  of  body  from  rank  and  abundant  humors,  (2) 
infirmity,  (3)  surfeit  of  meat  and  drink,  and  (4)  villainous  thoughts. 
Four  hundred  years  later  Madame  Roland,  in  her  "Memoires  Particu- 
lieres,"  presented  a  vivid  picture  of  the  anguish  produced  in  an  innocent 
girl's  mind  by  the  notion  of  the  sinfulness  of  erotic  dreams.  She  men- 
struated first  at  the  age  of  14.  "Before  this,','  she  writes,  "I  had  some- 
times been  awakened  from  the  deepest  sleep  in  a  surprising  manner. 
Imagination  played  no  part;  I  exercised  it  on  too  many  serious  subjects, 
and  my  timorous  conscience  preserved  it  from  amusement  with  other 
subjects,  so  that  it  could  not  represent  what  I  would  not  allow  it  to 
seek  to  understand.  But  an  extraordinary  effervescence  aroused  my 
senses  in  the  heat  of  repose,  and  by  virtue  of  my  excellent  constitution 
operated  by  itself  a  purification  which  was  as  strange  to  me  as  its  cause. 
The  first  feeling  which  resulted  was,  I  know  not  why,  a  sort  of  fear.  I 
had  observed  in  my  'Philotee'  that  we  are  not  allowed  to  obtain  any 
pleasure  from  our  bodies  except  in  lawful  marriage.  What  I  had  ex- 
perienced could  be  called  a  pleasure.  I  was  then  guilty,  and  in  a  class 
of  offences  which  caused  the  most  shame  and  sorrow^  since  it  was  that 
which  was  most  displeasing  to  the  Spotless  Lamb.  There  was  great 
agitation  in  my  poor  heart,  prayers,  and  mortifications.  How  could  I 
avoid  it?  For,  indeed,  I  had  itot  foreseen  it,  but  at  the  instant  when  I 
experienced  it,  I  had  not  taken  the  trouble  to  prevent  it.  My  watchful- 
ness became  extreme.  I  scrupulously  avoided  positions  which  I  found 
specially  exposed  me  to  the  accident.  My  restlessness  became  so  great 
that  at  last  I  was  able  to  awake  before  the  catastrophe.  When  I  was 
not  in  time  to  prevent  it,  I  would  jump  out  of  bed  with  naked  feet  on 

9 


130  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

to  the  polished  floor,  and  m  ith  crossed  arms  pray  to  the  Saviour  to  pre- 
serve me  from  the  wiles  of  the  devil.  I  would  then  impose  some  penance 
on  myself,  and  I  have  carried  out  to  the  letter  what  the  prophet  King 
probably  only  transmitted  to  us  as  a  figure  of  Oriental  speech,  mixing 
ashes  with  my  bread,  and  watering  it  with  my  tears." 

To  the  early  Protestant  mind,  as  illustrated  by  Luther,  there 
was  something  diseased,  though  not  impure,  in  sexual  excitement 
during  sleep;  thus,  in  his  "Table  Talk"'  Luther  remarks  that 
girls  who  have  such  dreams  should  be  married  at  once,  ^"taking 
the  medicine  which  God  has  given."  It  is  only  of  recent  years 
that  medical  science  has  obtained  currency  for  the  belief  that 
this  auto-erotic  process  is  entirely  normal.  Sir  James  Paget  de- 
clared that  he  had  never  known  celibate  men  who  had  not  such 
emissions  from  once  or  twice  a  week  to  twice  every  three  months, 
both  extremes  being  within  the  limits  of  good  health,  while  Sir 
Lauder  Brunton  considers  once  a  fortnight  or  once  a  month  about 
the  usual  frequency,  at  these  periods  the  emissions  often  follow- 
ing two  nights  in  succession.  Quite  lately  there  has  been  some 
tendency  for  medical  opinion  to  revert  to  the  view  of  Luther  and 
to  regard  sexual  excitement  during  sleep  as  a  somewhat  unhealthy 
phenomenon.  Moll  is  a  distinguished  advocate  of  this  view. 
Sexual  excitement  during  sleep  is  the  normal  result  of  celibacy, 
but  it  is  another  thin^^  to  sav  that  it  is  on  that  account  satisfac- 
tory.  We  might  then,  Moll  remarks,  maintain  that  nocturnal  in- 
continence of  urine  is  satisfactory  since  the  bladder  is  thus 
emptied.  Yet  we  take  every  precaution  against  this  by  Insisting 
that  the  bladder  shall  be  emptied  before  going  to  sleep. ^  This 
remark  is  supported  by  the  fact,  to  which  I  find  that  both  men 
and  women  can  bear  witness,  that  sexual  excitement  during  sleep 
is  more  fatiguing  than  in  the  waking  state,  though  this  is  not  an 
invariable  rule,  and  it  is  sometimes  found  to  be  refreshing. 

So  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain,  there  seem  to  be, 
generally  speaking,  certain  difTorences  in  the  manifestations  of 
auto-erotism  during  sleep  in  men  and  woineii  wliich  I  believe  to 
be  not   without  psychological   significance.     Ju   men   the   phe- 


'  Moll,  "Untersuchungen  iiber  die  Ubido  Sexualis,"  B.  1,  p.  552. 


AUTO-EROTISM.  131 

nomenon  is  fairly  simple;  it  usually  appears  about  puberty,  con- 
tinues at  intervals  of  varying  duration  during  sexual  life  pro- 
vided the  individual  is  living  chastely,  and  is  generally,  though 
not  always,  accompanied  by  erotic  dreams  which  lead  up  to  the 
climax,  its  occurrence  being,  to  some  extent,  influenced  by  a 
variety  of  circumstances:  physical,  mental,  or  emotional  excite- 
ment; alcohol  taken  before  retiring;  position  in  bed  (as  lying  on 
the  back),  the  state  of  the  bladder,  sometimes  the  mere  fact  of 
being  in  a  strange  bed,  and  to  some  extent  apparently  by  the  ex- 
istence of  monthly  and  yearly  rhythms.  On  the  whole,  it  is  a 
fairly  definite  and  regular  phenomenon  which  usually  leaves  little 
conscious  trace  on  awaking  beyond  probably  some  sense  of  fatigue 
and  occasionally  a  headache.  In  women,  however,  the  phenomena 
of  auto-erotism  during  sleep  seem  to  be  much  more  irregular, 
varied,  and  diffused.  So  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  make  inquiries, 
it  is  the  exception  rather  than  the  rule  for  girls  to  experience 
definitely  erotic  dreams  about  the  period  of  puberty  or  adoles- 
cence.^ Auto-erotic  phenomena  during  sleep  in  women  who  have 
never  experienced  the  orgasm  when  awake  are  usually  of  a  very 
vague  kind;  while  it  is  the  rule  in  a  chaste  youth  for  the  orgasm 
thus  to  manifest  itself,  it  is  the  exception  in  a  chaste  girl.  It  is 
not,  as  a  rule,  until  the  orgasm  has  been  definitely  produced  in 
the  waking  state — under  whatever  conditions  it  may  have  been 
produced — that  it  begins  to  occur  during  sleep,  and  even  in  a 
strongly  sexual  woman  living  a  repressed  life  it  is  often  com- 
paratively infrequent.  Thus,  a  young  medical  woman  who  en- 
deavors to  deal  strenuously  with  her  physical  sexual  emotions 
writes:  ''1  sleep  soundly,  and  do  not  dream  at  all.  Occasionally, 
but  verv  rarelv,  I  have  had  sensations  which  awakened  me  sud- 
denly.  They  can  scarcely  be  called  dreams,  for  they  are  mere 
impulses,  nothing  connected  or  coherent,  yet  prompted,  I  know. 


^  I  may  here  refer  to  the  curious  opinion  expressed  by  Dr.  Elizabeth 
Blackwell,  that,  while  the  sexual  impulse  in  man  is  usually  relieved  by 
seminal  emissions  during  sleep,  in  women  it  is  relieved  by  the  occurrence 
of  menstruation.  This  latter  statement  is  flagrantly  at  variance  with 
the  facts;  but  it  may  perhaps  be  quoted  in  support  of  the  view  expressed 
above  as  to  the  comparative  rarity  of  sexual  excitement  during  sleep  in 
voung  girls. 


132  PSYCHOLOGY   OF    SEX. 

by  sexual  feeling.  This  is  probabh-  an  experience  common  to 
aW  It  is  possible  that  to  this  rarity  in  chaste  women  of  sexual 
excitement  during  sleep  we  may  in  part  attribute  the  violence 
with  which  repressed  sexual  emotion  in  women  often  manifests 
itself.^  There  is  thus  a  difference  here  between  men  and  women 
which  is  of  some  significance  when  we  are  considering  the  natural 
satisfaction  of  the  sexual  impulse  in  chaste  women. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  and  important  characters  by 
which  the  erotic  dreams  of  women — and,  indeed,  their  dreams 
generall}^ — differ  from  those  of  men  is  in  the  tendency  to  evoke 
a  repercussion  on  the  waking  life,  a  tendency  more  rarely  noted 
in  men's  erotic  dreams,  and  then  only  to  a  minor  extent.  This 
is  very  common  even  in  healthy  and  normal  women,  and  is  ex- 
aggerated to  a  high  degree  in  neurotic  subjects,  by  whom  the 
dream  may  even  be  interpreted  as  a  realit}^,  and  so  declared  on 
oath,  a  fact  of  practical  importance. 

Hersman — having  met  with  a  case  in  which  a  school-girl 
with  chorea,  after  having  dreamed  of  an  assault,  accused  the 
principal  of  a  school  of  assault,  obtaining  his  conviction — ob- 
tained the  opinions  of  various  American  alienists  as  to  the  fre- 
quency with  which  such  dreams  in  unstable  mental  subjects  lead 
to  delusions  and  criminal  accusations.  Dercum,  H.  C.  "Wood, 
and  Rohe  had  not  personally  met  with  such  cases;  Burr  believed 
that  there  was  strong  evidence  "that  a  sexual  dream  may  be  so 
vivid  as  to  make  the  subject  believe  she  has  had  sexual  congress"; 
Kiernan  knew  of  such  cases;  C.  H.  Hughes,  in  persons  with  every 
appearance  of  sanity,  had  known  the  erotic  dreams  of  the  night 
to  become  the  erotic  delusions  of  the  day,  the  patient  protesting 
violcjitly  the  truth  of  her  story;   while  Hersmnn  reports  the  case 


'  It  iiiav  be  added  lliat  in  more  or  less  neurotic  women  and  ffirls 
erotic  dreams  may  be  very  frequent  and  dej^ressinj;.  Tlius,  J.  M.  Fother- 
gill  ("West  Ridinj;  l\ei)orts,"  vol.  vi,  187«))  remarks:  "These  dreams  are 
mueli  more  frequent  than  is  ordinarily  thoujrht,  and  are  the  cause  of  a 
great  deal  of  nervous  depression  amonf^  women.  Women  of  a  hij^hly- 
nervous  dialliesis  sulVcr  much  more  fi'om  these  drains  than  robust  women. 
Not  only  are  these  involuntary  orgasms  more  frequent  among  such 
women,  but  they  cause  more  disturbance  of  the  general  healtli  in  them 
than  in  other  women." 


AUTO-EROTISM.  133 

of  a  young  lady  in  an  asylum  who  had  nightly  delusions  that  a 
medical  officer  visited  her  every  night,  and  had  to  do  with  her, 
coming  up  the  hot-air  flue.^  I  am  acquainted  with  a  similar  case 
in  a  clever,  but  highly  neurotic,  young  woman,  who  writes: 
"For  years  I  have  been  trying  to  stamp  out  my  passional  nature, 
and  was  beginning  to  succeed  when  a  strange  thing  happened 
to  me  last  autumn.  One  night,  as  I  lay  in  bed,  I  felt  an  influence 
so  powerful  that  a  man  seemed  present  with  me.  I  crimsoned 
with  shame  and  wonder.  I  remember  that  I  lay  upon  my  back, 
and  marveled  when  the  spell  had  passed.  The  influence,  I  was 
assured,  came  from  a  priest  whom  I  believed  in  and  admired 
above  everyone  in  the  world.  I  had  never  dreamed  of  love  in 
connection  with  him,  because  I  always  thought  him  so  far  above 
me.  The  influence  has  been  upon  me  ever  since — sometimes  by 
day  and  nearly  always  by  night;  from  it  I  generally  go  into  a 
deep  sleep,  w^hich  lasts  until  morning.  I  am  always  much  re- 
freshed when  I  awake.  This  influence  has  the  best  effect  upon 
my  life  that  anything  has  ever  had  as  regards  health  and  mind. 
It  is  the  knowledge  that  I  am  loved  fittingly  that  makes  me  so 
indifferent  to  my  future.  What  worries  me  is  that  I  sometimes 
wonder  if  I  suffer  from  a  nervous  disorder  merely."  The  sub- 
ject thus  seemed  to  regard  these  occurrences  as  objectively  real, 
but  was  sufficiently  sane  to  wonder  w^hether  her  experiences  were 
not  due  to  mental  disorder. - 


^  C.  C.  Hersman,  "Medico-legal  Aspects  of  Eroto-Choreic  Insanities," 
Alienist  and  Neurologist,  July,  1897.  I  may  mention  that  Pitres 
("Lemons  cliniques  sur  I'Hysterie,"  vol.  ii,  p.  34)  records  the  almost 
identical  case  of  an  hysterical  girl  in  one  of  his  wards,  who  was  at  first 
grateful  to  the  clinical  clerk  to  whom  her  case  was  intrusted,  but  after- 
ward changed  her  behavior,  accused  him  of  coming  nightly  through  the 
window,  lying  beside  her,  caressing  her,  and  then  exerting  violent  coitus 
three  or  four  times  in  succession  until  she  was  utterly  exhausted.  I 
may  here  refer  to  the  tendency  to  erotic  excitement  in  women  under 
the  influence  of  chloroform  and  nitrous  oxide,  a  tendency  rarely  or  never 
noted  in  men,  and  of  the  frequency  with  which  the  phenomenon  is  at- 
tributed bv  the  subject  to  actual  assault.  See  H.  Ellis,  "Man  and 
Woman,"  pp.  269-274.' 

-  In  Australia  a  man  was  charged  with  rape,  found  guilty  of  "at- 
tempt," and  sentenced  to  eighteen  months'  imprisonment,  on  the  accusa- 
tion of  a  girl  of  1,3,  who  subsequently  confessed  that  the  charge  was 
imaginary;    in  this  case  the  jury  found  it  impossible  to  believe  that  so 


134  PSYCHOLOGY   OF    SEX. 

The  tendency  of  the  auto-erotic  phenomena  of  sleep  to  be 
manifested  with  such  enero^v  as  to  flow  over  into  the  wakino^  life 
and  influence  conscious  emotion  and  action,  while  ver}^  well 
marked  in  normal  and  healthv  women,  is  seen  to  an  exasrsrerated 
extent  in  hysterical  women,  in  whom  it  has,  therefore,  chiefly 
been  studied.  Sante  de  Sanctis,  who  has  investigated  the  dreams 
of  many  classes  of  people,  remarks  on  the  frequently  sexual  char- 
acter of  the  dreams  of  hysterical  women,  and  the  repercussion  of 
such  dreams  on  the  waking  life  of  the  following  day;  he  gives 
a  typical  case  of  hysterical  erotic  dreaming  in  an  uneducated 
servant-girl  of  23,  in  whom  such  dreams  occur  usually  a  few  days 
before  the  menstrual  period;  her  dreams,  especially  if  erotic, 
make  an  enormous  impression  on  her;  in  the  morning  she  is 
bad-tempered  if  they  were  unpleasant,  while  she  feels  lascivious 
and  gives  herself  up  to  masturbation  if  she  has  had  erotic  dreams 
of  men;  she  then  has  a  feeling  of  pleasure  throughout  the  day, 
and  her  sexual  organs  are  bathed  with  moisture.^  Pitres  and 
Gilles  de  la  Tourette,  two  of  Charcot's  most  distinguished  pupils, 
in  their  elaborate  works  on  h3'steria  both  consider  that  dreams 
generally  have  a  great  influence  on  the  waking  life  of  the  hys- 
terical, and  they  deal  with  the  special  influence  of  erotic  dreams, 
to  which,  doubtless,  we  must  refer  those  conceptions  of  inciihi 
and  succubi  which  played  so  vast  and  so  important  a  part  in 
the  demonoloo^v  of  the  middles  ao^es,  and  while  not  unknown 
in  men,  were  most  frequent  in  women.  Such  erotic  dreams — 
as  these  observers,  confirming  the  experience  of  old  writers,  have 
found  among  the  hysterical  to-day — are  by  no  means  always,  or 
even  usually,  of  a  pleasurable  character.  "It  is  very  rare,''  Pitres 
remarks,  when  insisting  on  the  sexual  character  of  the  hallucina- 
tions of  the  hysterical,  "for  these  erotic  hallucinations  to  be  ac- 
companied by  agreeable  voluptuous  sensations.  In  most  cases 
the  illusion  of  sexual  intercourse  even  provokes  acute  pain.    The 


young  a  j^irl  could  liavo  horn  lyinfj  or  hallucinated,  because  slio  narrated 
the  details  of  the  alleged  ofTonce  with  such  circumstajitial  detail.  Such 
cases  are  not  uncommon,  and  in  some  measure  no  doubt  they  may  bo 
accounted  for  by  auto-erotic  nocturnal  hallucinations. 

'  Sanle  de  Sancti-^.  "I  sogni  e  il  sonno  neiristerismo  e  nella  epilessia." 
Rome,  1890,  j).   101. 


AUTO-EKOTISM.  135 

witches  of  old  times  nearly  all  affirmed  that  in  their  relations  with 
the  devil  they  suffered  greatly.  They  said  that  his  organ  was 
long  and  rough  and  pointed,  with  scales  which  lifted  on  with- 
drawal and  tore  the  vagina.''^  (It  seems  probable,  I  may  remark, 
that  the  witches'  representations,  both  of  the  devil  and  of  sexual 
intercourse,  were  largely  influenced  by  familiarity  with  the  coup- 
ling of  animals).  As  Gilles  de  la  Tourette  is  careful  to  warn  his 
readers,  we  must  not  too  hastily  assume,  from  the  prevalence  of 
nocturnal  auto-erotic  phenomena  in  hysterical  women,  that  such 
women  are  necessarily  sexual  and  libidinous  in  excess;  the  dis- 
order is  in  them  psychic,  he  points  out,  and  not  physical,  and 
they  usually  receive  sexual  approaches  with  indifference  and  re- 
pugnance, because  their  sexual  centres  are  anesthetic  or  hyper- 
esthetic.  "During  the  period  of  sexual  activity  they  seek  much 
more  the  care  and  delicate  attention  of  men  than  the  genital  act, 
w^hich  they  often  only  tolerate.  Many  households,  begun  under 
the  happiest  auspices — the  bride  all  the  more  apt  to  believe  that 
she  loves  her  betrothed  in  virtue  of  her  suggestibility,  easily  ex- 
alted, perhaps  at  the  expense  of  the  senses — become  hells  on 
earth.  The  sexual  act  has  for  the  hysterical  woman  more  than 
one  disillusion;  she  cannot  understand  it;  it  inspires  her  with 
insurmountable  repugnance."-  I  refer  to  these  hysterical  phe- 
nomena because  they  present  to  us,  in  an  extreme  form,  facts 
which  are  common  among  women  whom,  under  the  artificial  con- 
ditions of  civilized  life,  we  are  compelled  to  regard  as  ordinarily 
healthy  and  normal.  The  frequent  painfulness  of  auto-erotic 
phenomena  is  by  no  means  an  exclusively  hysterical  phenomenon, 
although  often  seen  in  a  heightened  form  in  hysterical  condi- 
tions. It  is  probably  to  some  extent  simply  the  result  of  a  con- 
flict in  consciousness  with  a  merely  physical  impulse  which  is 
strong  enough  to  assert  itself  in  spite  of  the  emotional  and  intel- 
lectual abhorrence  of  the  subject.  It  is  thus  but  an  extreme 
form  of  the  disgust  which  all  sexual  physical  manifestations  tend 
to  inspire  in  a  person  who  is  not  inclined  to  respond  to  them. 


^  Pitres.  "Legons  cliniques  sur  rHysterie,"  vol.  ii.  p.  37  ft  scq. 
-  Gilles  de  la  Tourette,  loc.  cit.,  p.  518. 


136  PSYCHOLOGY   OF    SEX. 

Somewhat  similar  psychic  disgust  and  ph3'sical  pain  are  pro- 
duced in  the  attempt  to  stimulate  the  sexual  emotions  and  organs 
when  these  are  exhausted  by  exercise.  In  the  detailed  history 
which  Moll  presents,  of  the  sexual  experiences  of  a  sister  in  an 
American  nursing  guild, — a  most  instructive  history  of  a  woman 
fairly  normal  except  for  the  results  of  repressed  sexual  emotion, 
and  with  strong  moral  tendencies, — various  episodes  are  narrated 
well  illustrating:  the  wav  in  which  sexual  excitement  becomes 
unpleasant  or  even  painful  when  it  takes  place  as  a  physical  re- 
flex which  the  emotions  and  intellect  are  all  the  time  struggling 
against.^  It  is  quite  probable,  however,  that  there  is  a  physio- 
logical, as  well  as  a  psychic,  factor  in  this  phenomenon,  and 
Sollier,  in  his  recent  elaborate  study  of  the  nature  and  genesis  of 
hysteria,  by  insisting  on  the  capital  importance  of  the  disturb- 
ance of  sensibility  in  hysteria,  and  the  definite  character  of  the 
phenomena  produced  in  the  passage  between  anesthesia  and  nor- 
mal sensation,  has  greatly  helped  to  reveal  the  mechanism  of  this 
feature  of  auto-erotic  excitement  in  the  hj^sterical. 

Xo  doubt  there  has  been  a  tendency  to  exaggerate  the  un- 
pleasant character  of  the  auto-erotic  phenomena  of  hysteria. 
That  tendency  Avas  an  inevitable  reaction  against  an  earlier  view, 
according  to  which  h3^steria  was  little  more  than  an  unconscious 
expression  of  the  sexual  emotions  and  as  such  was  unscientifically 
dismissed  without  any  careful  investigation.  I  agree  with  Breuer 
and  Freud  that  the  sexual  needs  of  the  hysterical  are  just  as  in- 
dividual and  various  as  those  of  normal  women,  but  that  they 
suffer  from  them  more,  largely  through  n  moral  struggle  with 
their  own  instincts,  and  the  attempt  to  put  them  into  the  back- 
ground of  consciousness.^     In  many  hysterical  and  psycliicnlly 


'On  one  occasion,  when  still  a  ^\\\.  whenever  an  artist  whom  slie 
admired  touched  her  liand  she  felt  erection  and  moisture  of  tlie  sexual 
parts,  but  without  any  sensation  of  pleasure;  a  little  later,  when  an 
uncle's  knee  casually  came  in  contact  with  her  thigh,  ejaculation  of 
mucus  took  ])lace,  thoupjh  she  disliked  the  uncle;  afjain.  when  a  nurse, 
on  casually  seeing  a  man's  sexual  orf^ans,  an  electric  shock  went  throupli 
her,  thouofh  the  sipht  was  disfrustinj?  to  her;  and  when  she  had  once  to 
assist  a  man  to  urinate,  sh(>  became  in  the  hip^hest  dcfrree  excited,  thou<]fh 
without  pleasure,  and  lay  down  on  a  couch  in  the  next  room,  while  a 
convulsive  ejaculation  took  ])lace.     (Moll,  "Libido  Sexualis,"  B.  1,  p.  354.) 

-  T'.reiier  and   Freud,  "Studien   fiber  Tlvsterie,"   1805,  p.  217. 


AUTO-EROTISM.  137 

abnormal  women,  anto-erotic  phenomena,  and  sexual  phenomena 
generally,  are  highly  pleasurable,  though  such  persons  may  be 
quite  innocent  of  any  knowledge  of  the  erotic  character  of  the 
experience.  I  have  come  across  interesting  and  extreme  exam- 
ples of  this  in  the  published  experiences  of  the  women  followers 
of  the  American  religious  leader,  T.  L.  Harris,  founder  of  the 
"Brotherhood  of  the  Xew  Life/^  Thus,  in  a  pamphlet,  entitled, 
"Internal  Respiration,^'  by  Respiro,  a  letter  is  quoted  from  a  lady 
physician,  who  writes:  "One  morning  I  awoke  with  a  strange  new 
feeling  in  the  womb,  which  lasted  for  a  day  or  two;  I  w^as  so  very 
happ3^,  but  the  joy  was  in  my  womb,  not  in  my  heart."  "At  last,'' 
writes  a  lady,  quoted  in  the  same  pamphlet,  "I  fell  into  a  slumber, 
lying  on  my  back  with  arms  and  feet  folded,  a  position  I  almost 
always  find  myself  in  when  I  awake,  no  matter  in  which  position 
I  may  go  to  sleep.  Very  soon  I  awoke  from  this  slumber  with  a 
most  delightful  sensation,  every  fibre  tingling  with  an  exquisite 
glow  of  warmth.  I  was  lying  on  my  left  side  (something  I  am 
never  able  to  do),  and  was  folded  in  the  arms  of  my  counterpart. 
Unless  you  have  seen  it,  I  cannot  give  you  an  idea  of  the  beauty 
of  his  flesh,  and  with  what  joy  I  beheld  and  felt  it.  Think  of 
it,  luminous  flesh;  and  Oh!  such  tints,  you  never  could  imagine 
without  seeing.  He  folded  me  so  closely  in  his  arms,"  etc.  In 
such  cases  there  is  no  conflict  between  the  physical  and  the 
psychic,  and  therefore  the  resulting  excitement  is  pleasurable 
and  not  painful. 

The  extreme  form  of  auto-erotism  is  the  tendency  sometimes  found, 
perhaps  especially  in  women,  though  this  is  doubtful,  for  the  sexual 
emotion  to  be  absorbed  and  often  entirely  lost  in  self-admiration.  This 
Xarcissus-like  tendency,  of  which  the  normal  germ  in  women  is  svmbol- 
ized  by  the  mirror,  is  found  in  a  minor  degree  in  some  men,  and  is  some- 
times well  marked  in  women,  but  in  association  with  an  attraction  for 
other  persons,  to  which  attraction  it  is,  of  course,  normally  subserv^ient. 

In  the  extreme  form  in  which  alone  the  name  of  Narcissus  may 
properly  be  invoked,  there  is  comparative  indifference  to  sexual  gratifica- 
tion or  the  admiration  of  the  opposite  sex.  Such  a  condition  seems  to  be 
rare,  except,  perhaps,  in  insanity.  Since  I  called  attention  to  this  form 
of  auto-erotism  {Alienist  and  Neurologist,  April,  1898)  several  writers 
have  discussed  the  condition,  especially  Nacke.     Among  1500  insane  per- 


138  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

sons  Xiicke  lias  found  it  in  four  men  and  one  woman  {Psi/cJiiatrische  en 
Keuroloffische  Bladen,  No.  2.  1899).  Dr.  C.  H.  Hughes  writes  (in  a  pri- 
vate letter)  that  he  is  acquainted  with  such  cases  in  which  men  have 
been  absorbed  in  admiration  of  their  own  manly  forms  and  of  their 
sexual  organs,  and  women  likewise  absorbed  in  admiration  of  their  own 
mammae  and  physical  proportions,  especially  of  limbs.  *'The  whole  sub- 
ject," he  adds,  "is  a  singular  phase  of  psycholog}^.  and  it  is  not  all 
morbid  psychology  either.  It  is  closely  allied  to  that  esthetic  sense 
which  admires  the  nude  in  art." 

A  typical  case  known  to  me  is  that  of  a  lady  of  28,  brought  up 
on  a  farm.  She  is  a  handsome  woman,  of  very  large  and  fine  propor- 
tions, active  and  healthy  and  intelligent,  with,  however,  no  marked 
sexual  attraction  to  the  opposite  sex;  at  the  same  time  she  is  not  in- 
verted, though  she  would  like  to  be  a  man,  and  has  a  considerable  degree 
of  contempt  for  women.  She  has  an  intense  admiration  for  her  own 
person,  especially  her  limbs;  she  is  never  so  happy  as  when  alone  and 
naked  in  her  own  bedroom,  and,  so  far  as  possible,  she  cultivates  naked- 
ness. She  knows  by  heart  the  various  measurements  of  her  body,  is 
proud  of  the  fact  that  they  are  strictly  in  accordance  with  the  canons 
of  perfection,  and  she  laughs  proudly  at  the  thought  that  her  thigh  is 
larger  than  many  a  woman's  waist.  She  is  frank  and  assured  in  her 
manners,  without  sexual  shyness,  and,  while  willing  to  receive  the  at- 
tention and  admiration  of  others,  she  makes  no  attempt  to  gain  it,  and 
seems  never  to  have  experienced  any  emotions  stronger  than  her  own 
pleasure  in  herself.  I  should  add  that  I  have  had  no  opportunity  of 
detailed  examination,  and  cannot  speak  positively  as  to  the  absence  of 
masturbation. 


II. 

Hysteria  and  the  Question  of  its  Relation  to  the  Sexual  Emotions 
— The  Early  Greek  Theories  of  its  Xature  and  Causation — The  Gradual 
Rise  of  Modern  Views — Charcot — The  Revolt  against  Charcot's  Too 
Absolute  Conclusions — Fallacies  Involved — Charcot's  Attitude  the  Out- 
come of  his  Personal  Temperament — Breuer  and  Freud — Summary  of 
their  investigations — Breuer  and  Freud's  Views  Supplement  and  Com- 
plete Charcot's — At  the  Same  Time  they  Furnish  a  Justification  for  the 
Earlier  Doctrine  of  Hysteria — But  They  Must  Xot  be  Regarded  as  Final 
— The  Diffused  Hysteroid  Condition  in  Normal  Persons — The  Physio- 
logical Basis  of  Hvsteria — True  Pathological  Hysteria  is  Linked  on  to 
almost  Normal  States,  especially  to  Sex-hunger. 

The  nocturnal  hallucinations  of  hysteria,  as  all  careful 
students  of  this  condition  now  seem  to  agree,  are  closely  allied 
to  the  hysterical  attack  proper.  Sollier,  indeed,  one  of  the  ablest 
of  the  more  recent  investigators  of  hysteria,  has  argued  with 
much  force  that  the  subjects  of  hysteria  really  live  in  a  state  of 
pathological  sleep,  of  vigilambulism.^  He  regards  all  the  various 
accidents  of  hysteria  as  having  a  common  basis  in  disturbances 
of  sensibility,  in  the  widest  sense  of  the  word  "sensibility,'^ — as 
the  very  foundation  of  personality.  Whatever  the  form  of  hys- 
teria, we  are  thus  only  concerned  with  a  more  or  less  profound 
state  of  vigilambulism:  a  state  in  which  the  subject  seems,  often 
even  to  himself,  to  be  more  or  less  always  asleep,  whether  the 
sleep  may  be  regarded  as  local  or  general.  Sollier  agrees  with 
Fere  that  the  disorder  of  sensibility  may  be  regarded  as  due  to 
an  exhaustion  of  the  sensorv  centres  of  the  brain,  whether  as  the 


^  "Gendse  et  Nature  de  I'Hysterie,"  1898,  and  in  a  preliminary  paper 
read  before  the  International  ]\Iedical  Congress  at  Rome  in  1894.  Lom- 
broso  ("l.'Uomo  Delinquonto.''  1889,  vol.  ii,  p.  329),  referring  to  the 
diminished  metabolism  of  the  hysterical,  had  already  compared  them  to 
hibernating  animals. 

(139) 


140  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

result  of  constitutional  cerebral  weakness,  of  the  shock  of  a  vio- 
lent emotion,  or  of  some  toxic  influence  on  the  cerebral  cells. ^ 

"We  may,  therefore,  fitly  turn  from  the  auto-erotic  phe- 
nomena of  sleep  which  in  women  generally,  and  especially  in 
hysterical  women,  seem  to  possess  so  much  importance  and  sig- 
nificance, to  the  question — which  has  been  so  divergently  an- 
swered at  different  periods  and  by  different  investigators — 
concerning  the  causation  of  hysteria,  and  especially  concerning 
its  allesred  connection  with  conscious  or  unconscious  sexual 
emotion. 

It  was  the  belief  of  the  ancient  Greeks  that  hysteria  came 
from  the  womb;  hence  its  name.  "We  first  find  that  statement 
in  Plato's  ^'Timseus'':  "'In  men  the  orsran  of  sreneration — becom- 
ins:  rebellious  and  masterful,  like  an  animal  disobedient  to 
reason,  and  maddened  with  the  sting  of  hist — seeks  to  gain  ab- 
solute sway;  and  the  same  is  the  case  with  the  so-called  womb, 
or  uterus,  of  women:  the  animal  within  them  is  desirous  of  pro- 
creating children,  and,  when  remaining  unfruitful  long  beyond 
its  proper  time,  gets  discontented  and  angry,  and,  wandering  in 
every  direction  through  the  body,  closes  up  the  passages  of  the 
breath,  and,  by  obstructing  respiration,-  drives  them  to  extremity, 
causing  all  varieties  of  disease/' 

Plato,  it  is  true,  cannot  be  said  to  reveal  anywhere  a  very 
scientific  attitude  toward  Nature.  Yet  he  was  here  probably 
only  giving  expression  to  the  current  medical  doctrine  of  his  day. 
We  find  precisely  the  same  doctrine  in  Hippocrates,  the  greatest 


^  Sollier  regards  hysteria  as  primarily  a  phijfiical  disorder  of  the 
cerebral  centres.  It  is.  he  considers,  simply  the  way  in  which  the  cere- 
bral centres  function  when  afTected  by  a  special  physical  modification 
leadinET  to  a  more  or  less  profound  sleep.  This  he  regards  as  funda- 
mental, the  narrowing  of  the  field  of  consciousness,  or  the  doubling  of 
personality,  being  secondary.  He  protests  against  a  purely  psychic 
investigation  of  hysteria.  No  doubt  Janet  may  have  exaggerated  the 
importance  of  the  intellectual  manifestations  of  hysteria  which  he  has  so 
elaborately  studied,  but  it  can  scarcely  be  said  the  psychic  side  gen- 
erally of  hysteria,  and  especially  the  emotions,  have  yet  been  adequately 
investigated,  and  Sollier's  own  work  i^.  in  reality,  mainly  a  contribution 
to  the  psychology'  of  hysteria. 

*The  hysterical  phenomenon  of  tjlohim  hi/fttericus  \ya<  long  after- 
\\nrd  attributed  to  obstruction  of  resjiiration  by  the  womb. 


AUTO-EHOTISM.  Ittl 

and  the  most  observant  of  Greek  physicians;  he  defined  hysteria 
as  suffocation  of  the  womb,  though  he  does  not  always  clearly 
distinguish  hysteria  from  epilepsy/  if  we  turn  to  the  best  Eoman 
physicians  we  find  again  that  Aretseus,  "the  Esquirol  of  antiq- 
uity/' has  set  forth  the  same  view,  adding  to  his  description  of 
the  movements  of  the  womb  in  hysteria:  '^It  delights,  also,  in 
fragrant  smells,  and  advances  toward  them;  and  it  has  an  aver- 
sion to  fetid  smells,  and  flies  from  them;  and,  on  the  whole,  the 
womb  is  like  an  animal  within  an  animal/'^  Consequently  the 
treatment  was  by  applying  fetid  smells  to  the  nose  and  rubbing 
fragrant  ointments  around  the  sexual  parts.^ 

The  Arab  physicians  who  carried  on  the  traditions  of  Greek 
medicine  appear  to  have  said  nothing  new  about  hysteria,  and 
possibly  had  little  knowledge  of  it.  In  Christian  medieval  Eu- 
rope, also,  nothing  new  was  added  to  the  theory  of  hysteria;  it 
was,  indeed,  less  known  medically  than  it  had  ever  been,  and, 
in  part  it  may  be  as  a  result  of  this  ignorance,  in  part  as  a  result 
of  general  wretchedness  (the  hysterical  phenomena  of  witchcraft 
reaching  their  height,  Michelet  points  out,  in  the  fourteenth 
centui^,  which  was  a  period  of  special  misery  for  the  poor),  it 
flourished  more  vigorously.  N'ot  alone  have  we  the  records  of 
nervous  epidemics,  but  illuminated  manuscripts,  ivories,  minia- 
tures, bas-reliefs,  frescoes,  and  engravings  furnish  the  most  vivid 
iconographic  evidence  of  the  prevalence  of  hysteria  in  its  most 


^  As  Gilles  de  la  Tourette  points  out,  it  is  not  difficult  to  show  that 
epilepsy,  the  morhus  sacer  of  the  ancients,  owed  much  of  its  sacred 
character  to  this  confusion  with  hysteria.  Those  priestesses  who,  struck 
by  the  morhus  sacer,  gave  forth  their  oracles  amid  convulsions,  were 
certainly  not  the  victims  of  epilepsy,  but  of  hysteria  ("Traite  de  I'Hys- 
terie,"  vol.  i,  p.  3). 

-  Aretaeus,  "On  the  Causes  and  Symptoms  of  Acute  Diseases,"  Book 
ii,  Chapter  II. 

^  It  may  be  noted  that  this  treatment  furnishes  another  instance  of 
the  continuity  of  therapeutic  methods,  through  all  changes  of  theory, 
from  the  earliest  to  the  latest  times.  Drugs  of  unpleasant  odor,  like 
asafetida,  have  always  been  used  in  hysteria,  and  scientific  medicine 
to-day  still  finds  that  asafetida  is  a  pow  erful  sedative  to  tlie  uterus,  con- 
trolling nervous  conditions  during  pregnancy  and  arresting  uterine  irri- 
tation when  abortion  is  threatened  (see,  e.g.,  Warnian,  Der  Frauenarzt, 
August,  1895).  Again,  the  rubbing  of  fragrant  ointments  into  the  sexual 
regions  is  but  a  form  of  that  massage  which  is  one  of  the  latest  methods 
of  treating  the  sexual  disorders  of  women. 


142  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

violent  forms  during  the  Middle  Ages.  Much  of  this  evidence  is 
brought  to  the  service  of  science  in  the  fascinating  works  of  Dr. 
P.  Richer,  one  of  Charcot's  pupils.^ 

In  the  seventeenth  century  Ambroise  Pare  was  still  talking, 
like  Hippocrates,  about  ''suffocation  of  the  womb";  Forestus  was 
still,  like  Aretaeus,  applying  friction  to  the  vulva;  Fernel  was 
still  reproaching  Galen,  who  had  denied  that  the  movements  of 
the  womb  produced  hysteria. 

It  was  in  the  seventeenth  century  (1G18)  that  a  French  phy- 
sician, Charles  Lepois  (Carolus  Piso),  physician  to  Henry  II, 
trusting,  as  he  said,  to  experience  and  reason,  overthrew  at  one 
stroke  the  doctrine  of  hysteria  that  had  ruled  almost  unques- 
tioned for  two  thousand  years,  and  showed  that  the  malady  oc- 
curred at  all  ages  and  in  both  sexes,  that  its  seat  was  not  in  the 
womb,  but  in  the  brain,  and  that  it  must  be  considered  a  nervous 
disease.^  So  revolutionary  a  doctrine  could  not  fail  to  meet  with 
violent  opposition,  but  it  was  confirmed  by  Willis,  and  in  1681 
we  owe  to  the  genius  of  Sydenham  a  picture  of  hysteria  which  for 
lucidity,  precision,  and  comprehensiveness  has  only  been  excelled 
in  our  own  times. 

It  was  not  possible  any  longer  to  maintain  the  womb  theory 
of  Hippocrates  in  its  crude  form,  but  in  modified  forms,  and 
especially  with  the  object  of  preserving  the  connection  which 
many  observers  continued  to  find  between  hysteria  and  the  sexual 
emotions,  it  still  found  supporters  in  the  eighteenth  and  even  the 
nineteenth  centuries.  James,  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  returned  to  the  classical  view,  and  in  his  "Dictionary 
of  Medicine"  maintained  that  the  womb  is  the  seat  of  hysteria. 
Lonyer  Villermay  in  1816  asserted  that  the  most  frequent  causes 
of  hysteria  are  deprivation  of  the  pleasures  of  love,  griefs  con- 
nected with  this  ])assion.  and  disorders  of  menstruation.  Foville 
in  1833  and  Lavuhmzv  in  181(1  ndvocaterl  somewhat  similar  views. 


^  "T.os  Dr'monia(|Ucs  dans  I'Art.""  1SR7.  "Los  Mnlades  et  les  DifTorniPs 
dnnsl'Arf."  ISSO. 

-'(JUifira  Al)rico^<»11\  «»f  Moscow,  in  licr  Paris  thesis.  "L'Hyst^rie  aux 
xvii  et  xviii  siocles."  ]S07.  presents  a  summary  of  the  various  views  held 
at  tliis  tinie;  as  also  r.ill(<  df  la  'I'onrctlc  "Traill'  do  rHystcrio."  vol.  i. 
Chapter  r. 


AUTO-EROTISM.  143 

The  acute  Laycock  in  1840  quoted  as  ^^almost  a  medical  proverb" 
the  saying,  "Salacitas  major,  major  ad  hysleriam  pi'oclivitas/' 
fully  indorsing  it.  More  recently  still  Clouston  has  defined  hys- 
teria as  "the  loss  of  the  inhibitory  influence  exercised  on  the  re- 
productive  and  sexual  instincts  of  women  by  the  higher  mental 
and  moral  functions"  (a  position  evidently  requiring  some  modi- 
fication in  view  of  the  fact  that  hysteria  is  by  no  means  confined 
to  women),  while  the  same  authority  remarks  that  more  or  less 
concealed  sexual  phenomena  are  the  chief  symptoms  of  "hys- 
terical insanity."^  Two  gynecologists  of  high  position  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  world,  Hegar  in  Germany  and  Balls-Headley 
in  Australia,  attribute  hysteria,  as  well  as  anemia,  largely  to 
unsatisfied  sexual  desire,  including  the  non-satisfaction  of  the 
"ideal  feelings."-  Lombroso  and  Ferrero,  again,  while  admitting 
that  the  sexual  feelings  might  be  either  heightened  or  depressed 
in  h3^steria,  referred  to  the  frequency  of  what  they  termed  "a 
paradoxical  sexual  instinct"  in  the  hysterical,  by  which,  for  in- 
stance, sexual  frigidity  is  combined  with  intense  sexual  pre- 
occupations; and  they  also  pointed  out  the  significant  fact  that 
the  crimes  of  the  hysterical  nearly  always  revolve  around  the 
sexual  sphere.^  Thus,  even  up  to  the  time  when  the  conception 
of  hysteria  which  absolutely  ignored  and  excluded  any  sexual 
relationship  whatever  had  reached  its  height,  independent  views 
favoring  such  a  relationship  still  found  expression. 

Of  recent  years,  however,  such  views  usually  aroused  violent 
antagonism.  The  main  current  of  opinion  was  with  Briquet 
(1859),  who,  treating  the  matter  with  considerable  ability  and  a 
wide  induction  of  facts,  indignantly  repelled  the  idea  that  there 
is  any  connection  between  hysteria  and  the  sexual  facts  of  life, 
physical  or  psychic.    As  he  himself  admitted,  Briquet  was  moved 


^Edinburgh  Medical  Journal.  June.  1883.  p.  1123,  and  "Mental 
Diseases,"  1887^  p.  488. 

^  Hegar.  "Zusammenhang  der  Gesehlechtskrankhoiten  mit  nervosen 
Leiden,"  Stuttgart,  1885.  (Hegar.  however,  went  much  further  than  this, 
and  was  largely  responsible  for  the  surgical  treatment  of  hysteria  now 
generally  recognized  as  worse  than  futile.)  Balls-Headley,  "Etiology  of 
Nervous  Diseases  of  the  Female  Genital  Organs."  Allbutt  and  Plavfair, 
"System  of  Gynecology,"   189G,  p.   141. 

^  Lombroso  and  Ferrero,  "La  Donna  Delinquente,"  1893,  pp.  613-14. 


l-i4  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   SEX. 

to  deny  a  sexual  causation  of  hysteria  by  the  thought  that  such 
an  origin  would  be  degrading  for  women  ("a  quelque  chose  de 
degradant  pour  Us  femmes''). 

It  was,  however,  the  genius  of  Charcot,  and  the  influence 
of  his  able  pupils,  which  finally  secured  the  overthrow  of  the 
sexual  theory  of  hysteria.  Charcot  emphatically  anathematized 
the  visceral  origin  of  hysteria;  he  declared  that  it  is  a  psychic 
disorder,  and  to  leave  no  loop-hole  of  escape  for  those  who  main- 
tained a  sexual  causation  he  asserted  that  there  are  no  varieties 
of  hysteria,  that  the  disease  is  one  and  indivisible.  Charcot  rec- 
ognized no  primordial  cause  of  hysteria  beyond  heredity,  which 
here  plays  a  more  important  part  than  in  any  other  neuropathic 
condition.  Such  heredity  is  either  direct  or  more  occasionally 
by  transformation,  any  deviation  of  nutrition  found  in  the  an- 
cestors (gout,  diabetes,  arthritis)  being  a  possible  cause  of  hysteria 
in  the  descendants.  ^'We  do  not  know  anything  about  the  nature 
of  hysteria,"  Charcot  wrote  in  1892;  "we  must  make  it  objective 
in  order  to  recognize  it.  The  dominant  idea  for  us  in  the  etiology 
of  hysteria  is,  in  the  widest  sense,  its  hereditary  predisposition. 
The  greater  number  of  those  suffering  from  this  affection  are 
simply  born  liysterisables,  and  on  them  the  occasional  causes  act 
directly,  either  through  autosuggestion  or  by  causing  derange- 
ment of  general  nutrition,  and  more  particularly  of  the  nutrition 
of  the  nervous  system."^ 

These  views  are  ably  and  decisively  stated  in  Gilles  de  la 
Tourette's  "Traite  de  ITIysterie,"  written  under  the  inspiration 
of  Charcot,  which  has  a  better  claim  than  any  other  work  at  the 
present  day  to  be  considered  as  the  standard  treatise  on  hysteria. 

While  Charcot's  views  were  thus  being  aflRrmed  and  gen- 
erally accepted,  there  were  at  the  same  time  workers  in  these 
fields  who,  though  they  by  no  means  ignored  this  doctrine  of 
hysteria  or  even  rejected  it,  were  inclined  to  think  that  it  was 
too  absolutely  stated.  Writing  in  the  "Dictionary  of  Psycho- 
logical Moflicino"  at  1lie  same  time  as  Charcot,  Donkin,  while 


'Ohnrfot  nnd  Mario,  article  on  "Hysteria,"  Tuke's  "Dictionary  of 
Psychological  Medicine." 


AUTO-EROTISM.  145 

deprecating  any  exclusive  emphasis  on  the  sexual  causation, 
pointed  out  the  enormous  part  played  by  the  emotions  in  the 
production  of  hysteria,  and  the  great  influence  of  puberty  in 
women  due  to  the  greater  extent  of  the  sexual  organs,  and  the 
consequently  large  area  of  central  innervation  involved,  and  thus 
rendered  liable  to  fall  into  a  state  of  unstable  equilibrium.  En- 
forced abstinence  from  the  gratification  of  any  of  the  inherent 
and  primitive  desires,  he  pointed  out,  may  be  an  adequate  excit- 
ing cause.  Such  a  view  as  this  indicated  that  to  set  aside  the 
ancient  doctrine  of  a  physical  sexual  cause  of  hysteria  was  by 
no  means  to  exclude  a  psychic  sexual  cause.  Ten  years  earlier 
Axenfeld  and  Huchard  had  pointed  out  that  the  reaction  against 
the  sexual  origin  of  hysteria  was  becoming  excessive,  and  they 
referred  to  the  evidence  brought  forward  by  veterinary  surgeons 
showing  that  unsatisfied  sexual  desires  in  animals  may  produce 
nervous  symptoms  very  similar  to  hysteria.^  The  present  writer, 
when  in  1894  briefly  treating  hysteria  as  an  element  in  secondary 
sexual  characterization,  ventured  to  reflect  the  Adew,  confirmed 
by  his  own  observation,  that  there  was  a  tendency  to  unduly 
minimize  the  sexual  factor  in  hysteria,  and  further  pointed  out 
that  the  old  error  of  a  special  connection  between  hysteria  and 
the  female  sexual  organs  probably  arose  from  the  fact  that  in 
woman  the  organic  sexual  sphere  is  larger  than  in  man.^ 

When,  indeed,  we  analyze  the  foundation  of  the  now  pre- 
dominant opinions  of  Charcot  and  his  school  regarding  the  sexual 
relationships  of  hysteria,  it  becomes  clear  that  many  fallacies  and 
misunderstandings  are  involved.  Briquet,  Charcot's  chief  prede- 
cessor, acknowledged  that  his  own  view  was  that  a  sexual  origin 


^Axenfeld  and  Huchard,  "Traite  des  Nevroses,"  1883.  pp.  1092-94. 
Icard,  "La  Femrae  pendant  la  Periode  Menstruelle,"  pp.  120-21,  has  also 
referred  to  recorded  cases  of  hysteria  in  animals  (Coste's  and  Peter's 
cases),  as  has  Gilles  de  la  Tourette  (op.  cit.,  vol.  i,  p.  123).  See  also,  for 
references,  Fere,  "L'Instinct  Sexuel."  p.  59. 

^  "Man  and  Woman,"  p.  283.  A  distinguished  gynecologist, 
Matthews  Duncan,  had  remarked  some  years  earlier  (Lancet,  May  18, 
1889)  that  hysteria,  though  not  a  womb  disease,  "especially  attaches 
itself  to  the  generative  system,  because  the  genital  system,  more  than 
any  other,  exerts  emotional  power  over  the  individual,  power  also  in 
morals,  power  in  social  questions." 

10 


146  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

of  hysteria  would  be  *  "degrading  to  women";  that  is  to  say,  he 
admitted  that  he  was  influenced  by  a  foolish  and  improper  prej- 
udice, for  the  belief  that  the  unconscious  and  involuntary  mor- 
bid reaction  of  the  nervous  system  to  any  disturbance  of  a  great 
primary  instinct  can  have  "qiielque  chose  de  degradanf  is  itself 
an  immoral  belief;  such  disturbance  of  the  nervous  system 
might  or  might  not  be  caused,  but  in  any  case  the  alleged 
"degradation"'  could  only  be  the  fiction  of  a  distorted  imagina- 
tion. Again,  confusion  has  been  caused  by  the  ancient  error  of 
making  the  physical  sexual  organs  responsible  for  hysteria,  first 
the  womb,  more  recently  the  ovaries;  the  outcome  of  this  belief 
was  the  extirpation  of  the  sexual  organs  for  the  cure  of  hysteria. 
Charcot  condemned  absolutely  all  such  operations  as  unscientific 
and  dangerous,  declaring  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  hysteria 
of  menstrual  origin.^  More  recently  Angelucci  and  Pierracini 
have  carried  out  an  international  inquiry  into  the  results  of  the 
surgical  treatment  of  hysteria,  and  have  been  led  to  condemn  it 
in  the  most  unqualified  manner.  They  appealed  to  alienists, 
surgeons,  and  gynecologists  throughout  Europe  and  America, 
and  received  reports  of  109  cases  in  which  the  internal  organs 
were  removed  for  the  cure  of  either  hysteria  or  insanity.  Only 
in  17  of  these  cases  were  the  results  beneficial,  and  the  authors 
are  inclined,  on  the  evidence  before  them,  to  discount  consid- 
erably the  favorable  results  even  in  these  17  cases,  in  9  of  which 
there  was  real  disease  of  the  organs,  while  many  were  probably 
not  cases  of  true  hysteria;  there  was,  further,  reason  to  think 
that  suggestion  played  a  considerable  part  in  the  favorable  re- 
sults, since  in  6  cases  of  simulated  operation  (not,  of  course,  in- 
cluded in  the  series)  the  results  were  favorable.-  It  is,  therefore, 
clearly  demonstrated  that  the  physical  sexual  organs  are  not  the 
seat  of  hysteria.  It  does  not,  however,  follow  that  even  physical 
sexual  desire,  when  repressed,  is  not  a  cause  of  hysteria.  The 
opinion  that  it  was  so  formed  an  essential  part  of  the  early  doc- 


'  C;illf's  do  la  Touretic,  Arcliivcs  dt-  Tocologic  et  de  Gynf'cologic, 
June,  18J)5. 

^  Eevista  SporimcTifnlo  di  Froniatria,  1807,  p.  290;  summarized  in 
tho  Journal   of  Mental   Science,  January,   ISOS. 


AUTO-EEOTISM.  147 

trine  of  hysteria,  and  was  embodied  in  the  ancient  maxim: 
"Nubat  ilia  et  morhus  effugiet."  The  womb,  it  seemed  to  the 
ancients,  was  crying  out  for  satisfaction,  and  when  that  was  re- 
ceived the  disease  vanished.^  But  when  it  became  clear  that 
sexual  desire,  though  ultimately  founded  on  the  sexual  apparatus, 
is  a  nervous  and  psychic  fact,  to  put  the  sexual  organs  out  of 
count  was  not  sufficient;  for  the  sexual  emotions  may  exist  be- 
fore puberty,  and  persist  after  complete  removal  of  the  sexual 
organs.  Thus  it  has  been  the  object  of  many  writers  to  repel 
the  idea  that  unsatisfied  sexual  desire  can  be  a  cause  of  hysteria. 
Briquet  pointed  out  that  hysteria  is  rare  among  nuns  and  fre- 
quent among  prostitutes.  Krafft-Ebing  believes  that  most  hys- 
terical women  are  not  anxious  for  sexual  satisfaction,  and  declares 
that  "hysteria  caused  through  the  non-satisfaction  of  the  coarse 
sensual  sexual  impulse  I  have  never  seen,"^  while  Pitres  and 
others  refer  to  the  frequently  painful  nature  of  sexual  hallucina- 
tions in  the  hysterical.  But  it  soon  becomes  obvious  that  the 
psychic  sexual  sphere  is  not  confined  to  the  gratification  of 
conscious  physical  sexual  desire.  It  is  not  true  that  hysteria  is 
rare  among  nuns,  some  of  the  most  tremendous  epidemics  of 
hysteria,  and  the  most  carefully  studied,  having  occurred  in  con- 
vents, while  the  hysterical  phenomena  sometimes  associated  with 
revivals  are  well  known.  The  prevalence  of  hysteria  among  pros- 
titutes is  evidence  in  favor  of,  rather  than  against,  the  sexual 
relationships  of  hysteria.  The  frequent  absence  of  physical  sex- 
ual feeling,  in  the  same  manner,  may  quite  reasonably  be  taken 
as  evidence  of  a  disorder  of  the  sexual  emotions,  while  the  un- 
doubted fact  that  sexual  intercourse  usually  has  little  beneficial 


^  From  the  earliest  times  it  was  held  that  menstruation  favors 
hysteria;  more  recently  Landouzy  recorded  a  number  of  observ^ations 
showing  that  hysterical  attacks  coincide  with  perfectly  healthy  menstru- 
ation; while  Ball  has  maintained  that  it  is  only  during  menstruation 
that  hysteria  appears  in  its  true  color.  See  the  opinions  collected  by 
Icard,  "La  Femme  pendant  la  periode  Alenstruelle,"  pp.  75-81. 

-  Krafft-Ebing,  "Ueber  Neurosen  und  Psych osen  durch  sexuelle 
Abstinenz,"  Jahrbiicher  fiir  Psychiatrie,  vol.  viii,  1888.  It  must,  how- 
e\er,  be  added  that  the  relief  of  hysteria  by  sexual  satisfaction  is  not 
rare,  and  that  Rosenthal  finds  that  the  convulsions  are  thus  diminished. 
Allgemein  Wiener  medizinal-Zeitung,  Nos.  46  and  47,   1887. 


148  PSYCHOLOGY    OF   SEX. 

effect  on  pronounced  hysteria,  and  that  sexual  excitement  dur- 
ing sleep  and  sexual  hallucinations  are  often  painful  in  the  same 
condition,  is  far  from  showing  that  injury  or  repression  of  the 
sexual  emotions  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  production  of  the 
hysteria.  It  would  be  as  reasonable  to  argue  that  the  evil  effect 
of  a  heavy  meal  on  a  starving  man  must  be  taken  as  evidence 
that  he  was  not  suffering  from  starvation.  The  fact,  indeed,  on 
which  Gilles  de  la  Tourette  and  others  have  remarked,  that  the 
hysterical  often  desire  not  so  much  sexual  intercourse  as  simple 
affection,  would  tend  to  show  that  there  is  here  a  real  analogy, 
and  that  starvation  or  lesion  of  the  sexual  emotions  may  produce, 
like  bodily  starvation,  a  rejection  of  those  satisfactions  which  are 
demanded  in  health.  Thus,  even  a  mainly  a  priori  examination 
of  the  matter  may  lead  us  to  see  that  many  arguments  still 
brought  forward  in  favor  of  Charcot's  position  on  this  point  fall 
to  the  ground  when  we  realize  that  the  sexual  emotions  may  con- 
stitute a  highly  complex  sphere,  often  hidden  from  observation, 
sometimes  not  conscious  at  all,  and  liable  to  many  lesions  besides 
that  due  to  the  non-satisfaction  of  sexual  desire.  At  the  same 
time  we  are  not  thus  enabled  to  overthrow  any  of  the  positive 
results  attained  by  Charcot  and  his  school. 

It  may,  however,  be  pointed  out  that  Charcot's  attitude 
toward  hysteria  was  the  outcome  of  his  own  temperament.  lie 
was  primarily  a  neurologist,  the  bent  of  his  genius  was  toward 
the  investigation  of  facts  that  could  be  objectively  demonstrated. 
His  first  interest  in  hysteria,  dating  from  as  far  back  as  18G'2,  was 
in  hystero-epileptic  convulsive  attacks,  and  to  the  last  he  re- 
mained indifferent  to  all  facts  which  could  not  be  objectively 
demonstrated.  That  was  the  secret  of  the  advances  he  was 
enabled  to  make  in  neurology.  For  purely  psychological  investi- 
gation he  had  no  liking,  and  probably  no  aptitude.  Anyone  who 
was  privileged  to  observe  his  methods  of  work  at  the  Salpr'triere 
will  easily  recall  the  great  master's  towering  fij^urc;  the  disdainful 
expression,  sometimes,  even,  it  seemed,  a  little  sour;  the  lofty 
bearing  which  enthusiastic  admirers  called  Napoleonic.  The 
questions  addressed  to  the  patient  were  cold,  distant,  sometimes 
impatient.     Charcot  clearly  had  little  faitli  \u  the  value  of  any 


AUTO-EEOTISM.  149 

results  so  attained.  One  may  well  believe  also,  that  a  man  whose 
superficial  personality  was  so  haughty  and  awe-inspiring  to 
strangers  would  in  any  case  have  had  the  greatest  difficulty  in 
penetrating  the  mysteries  of  a  psychic  world  so  obscure  and 
elusive  as  that  presented  by  the  hysterical.^ 

The  way  was  thus  opened  for  an  investigation  on  the  psy- 
chic side,  which  might  throw  a  wholly  new  light  on  hysteria. 
Charcot  had  affirmed  the  power,  not  only  of  physical  traumatism, 
but  even  of  psychic  lesions — of  moral  shocks — to  provoke  its 
manifestations,  but  his  sole  contribution  to  the  psychology  of  this 
psychic  malady  lay  in  the  one  word  "suggestibility";  the  nature 
and  mechanism  of  this  psychic  process  he  left  wholly  unexplained. 
This  step  has  been  taken  by  others,  in  part  by  Charcot's  suc- 
cessor, Janet,  who,  from  1889  onward,  has  not  only  insisted  that 
the  emotions  stand  in  the  first  line  among  the  causes  of  hysteria, 
but  has  also  pointed  out  some  portion  of  the  mechanism  of  this 
process;  thus,  he  saw  the  significance  of  the  fact,  already  recog- 
nized, that  strong  emotions  tend  to  produce  anesthesia  and  to 
lead  to  a  condition  of  mental  disaggregation,  favorable  to  abulia, 
or  abolition  of  will-power.  It  remained  to  show  in  detail  the 
mechanism  by  which  the  most  potent  of  all  the  emotions  effects  its 
influence,  and,  by  doing  this,  the  Viennese  investigators,  Breuer 
and  Freud,  have,  I  venture  to  say,  made  a  really  important 
contribution  to  our  knowledge  of  hysteria.-  They  have  not,  it 
is  important  to  remark,  overturned  the  positive  elements  in  their 
fifreat  forerunner's  work.     Freud,  whose  work  is  still  much  less 


^  It  may  not  be  unnecessary  to  point  out  that  here  and  throughout, 
in  speaking  of  the  psychic  mechanism  of  hysteria.  I  do  not  admit  that 
any  process  can  be  ptireh/  psychic.  As  Fere  puts  it  in  an  admirable 
study  of  hysteria  ("Twentieth  Century  Practice  of  Medicine."  1897,  vol. 
X,  p.  556)  :  "In  the  genesis  of  hysterical  troubles  CA'crything  takes  place 
as  if  the  psychical  and  the  somatic  phenomena  were  two  aspects  of  the 
same  biological  fact." 

-Pierre  Janet,  "L'Automatisme  Psychologique,"  1889:  "L'Etat 
mental  des  Hysteriques,"  1894;  "Xevroses  et  Idees  fixes,"  1898.  Breuer 
und  Freud.  '"Ueber  den  psyehischen  ]Mechanisinus  hysterischer  Phiino- 
mene,"  Xeurologische  Centralblatt.  Xos.  1  and  2,  1893;  ''Studien  iiber 
Hysteric,"  Vienna,  1895.  Freud,  "Zur  Aetiologie  der  Hysteric,"  Wiener 
klinische  Rundschau,  Xos.  22  to  2G.  1896;  "L'Heredite  et  I'Etiologie  des 
Xevroses,"  Revue  Xeurologique,  1896,  Xo.  6. 


loU  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

widely  known  than  that  of  Janet,  began  as  a  disciple  of  Charcot, 
and  he  himself  remarks  that,  in  his  earlier  investigations  of  hys- 
teria, he  had  no  thought  of  finding  any  sexual  etiology  for  that 
malady:  he  would  have  regarded  any  such  suggestion  as  an  insult 
to  his  patient.  The  results  reached  by  these  workers  were  the 
outcome  of  lono^  and  detailed  investis^ation.  Freud  has  investi- 
gated  eighteen  cases  of  hysteria  in  minute  detail,  devoting  to 
each  of  them  over  a  hundred  hours  of  work.  The  patients,  un- 
like those  on  whom  the  results  of  the  French  school  have  been 
mainly  founded,  all  belonged  to  the  educated  classes,  and  it  was 
thus  possible  to  carry  out  an  elaborate  psychic  investigation 
which  would  be  impossible  among  the  uneducated.  Breuer  and 
Freud  insist  on  the  fine  qualities  of  mind  and  character  fre- 
quently found  among  the  hysterical.  They  cannot  accept  sug- 
gestibility as  an  invariable  characteristic  of  hysteria,  only  abnor- 
mal excitability:  they  are  far  from  agreeing  with  Janet  (although 
on  main  points  at  one  with  him),  that  psychic  weakness  marks 
hysteria;  there  is  merely  an  appearance  of  mental  weakness,  they 
say,  because  the  mental  activity  of  the  hysterical  is  split  up,  and 
only  a  part  of  it  is  conscious.^  The  superiority  of  character  of 
the  hysterical  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  the  conflict  between 
their  ideas  of  right  and  the  bent  of  their  inclinations  is  often  an 
element  in  the  constitution  of  the  hysterical  state.  Breuer  and 
Freud  are  prepared  to  assert  that  the  hysterical  are  among  "the 
flower  of  humanity,"  and  they  refer  to  those  qualities  of  com- 
bined imaginative  genius  and  practical  energy  which  character- 
ized St.  Theresa,  "the  patron  saint  of  the  hysterical." 

To  understand  the  position  of  Breuer  and  Freud  we  may 
start  from  the  phenomenon  of  "nervous  shock"  produced  by 
physical  traumatism,  often  of  a  very  slight  character.  Charcot 
had  shown  that  such  "nervous  shock,"  with  the  chain  of  result- 
ing symptoms,  is  nothing  more  or  less  than  hysteria.    Breuer  and 


'  Wc  might,  ]>erliai)s.  even  say  that  in  hysteria  the  so-called  hijrher 
centres  have  an  ahnornially  stronir  inhibitory  intluoncc  over  the  hr.vor 
centres,  the  hvsterical  explosion  heinj;  tlie  revenge  of  the  latter.  GiotVredi 
((Jaz/etta  degli  Ospedali.  October  1,  ISO'))  has  shown  that  some  hys- 
terical svjnj)toms.  snoh  as  nnitism.  can  be  currd  by  etherization,  thus 
looseniiifj:  tlie  control  of  the  higher  centres. 


AUTO-EROTISM.  151 

Freud  may  be  linked  on  to  Charcot  at  this  point.  They  may  be 
said  to  have  proved  conclusively — what  had  already  been  more 
or  less  hesitatingly  suggested  by  others — that  the  most  typical 
hysteria  is  really  a  psychic  traumatism;  that  is  to  say,  that  it 
starts  in  a  lesion,  or  rather  in  repeated  lesions,  of  the  emotional 
organism.  It  is  true  that  the  school  of  Charcot  admitted  the 
influence  of  moral  shock,  especially  of  the  emotion  of  fear,  but 
that  merely  as  an  ''agent  provocateur,^^  and  with  a  curious  per- 
versity Gilles  de  la  Tourette,  certainly  reflecting  the  attitude  of 
Charcot,  in  his  elaborate  treatise  on  hysteria  fails  to  refer  to  the 
sphere  of  the  sexual  emotions  even  when  enumerating  the  "agents 
provocateurs.''''^ 

The  influence  of  fear  is  not  denied  by  Breuer  and  Freud^ 
but  they  have  found  that  careful  psychic  analysis  frequently 
shows  that  the  shock  of  a  commonplace  ^'fear^^  is  really  rooted 
in  a  lesion  of  the  sexual  emotions.  A  typical  and  very  simple 
illustration  is  furnished  in  a  case,  recorded  by  Breuer,  in  which 
a  young  girl  of  seventeen  had  her  first  hysterical  attack  after  a 
cat  sprang  on  her  shoulders  as  she  was  going  downstairs.  Care- 
ful investigation  showed  that  this  girl  had  been  the  object  of 
somewhat  ardent  attentions  from  a  young  man  whose  advances 
she  had  resisted,  although  her  own  sexual  emotions  had  been 
aroused.  A  few  days  before  she  had  been  surprised  by  this  young 
man  on  these  same  dark  stairs,  and  had  forcibly  escaped  from  his 
hands.  Here  was  the  real  psychic  traumatism,  the  operation  of 
which  merely  became  manifest  in  the  cat.  "But  in  how  many 
cases,"  asks  Breuer,  "is  a  cat  thus  reckoned  as  a  completely  suffi- 
cient causa  efpciens?" 

In  every  case  that  they  have  investigated  Breuer  and  Freud 
have  found  some  similar  secret  lesion  of  the  psychic  sexual 
sphere.     In  one  case  a  governess,  whose  training  has  been  se- 


^  Charcot's  school  could  not  fail  to  recogrnize  the  erotic  tone  which 
often  dominates  hysterical  hallucinations.  Gilles  de  la  Tourette  seeks  to 
minimize  it  by  the  remark  that  "it  is  more  mental  than  real."  He  means 
to  say  that  it  is  more  psychic  than  physical,  and  he  implies  tliat  the 
physical  element  in  sex  is  alone  "real,"  a  strange  assumption  in  any 
case,  as  well  as  destructive  of  Gilles  de  la  Tourette's  own  fundamental 
assertion  that  hysteria  is  a  real  disease  and  yet  purely  psychic. 


152  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

verely  upright,  is,  in  spite  of  herself  and  without  any  encourage- 
ment, led  to  experience  for  the  father  of  the  children  under  her 
care  an  affection  which  she  refuses  to  acknowledge  even  to  her- 
self; in  another  a  young  Avoman  finds  herself  falling  in  love  with 
her  brother-in-law;  again,  an  innocent  girl  suddenly  discovers 
her  uncle  in  the  act  of  sexual  intercourse  with  her  playmate,  and 
a  boy  on  his  way  home  from  school  is  subjected  to  the  coarse  ad- 
vances of  a  sexual  invert.  In  nearly  every  case,  as  Freud  event- 
ually found  reason  to  believe,  a  primary  lesion  of  the  sexual  emo- 
tions dates  from  the  period  of  puberty,  and  in  nearly  every  case 
the  intimately  private  nature  of  the  lesion  causes  it  to  be  care- 
fully hidden  from  everyone,  and  even  to  be  unacknowledged  by 
the  subject  of  it.  In  many  cases  Breuer  and  Freud  have  found 
that  a  slight  degree  of  hypnosis  is  necessary  to  bring  the  lesion 
into  consciousness,  and  the  accuracy  of  the  revelations  thus  ob- 
tained has  been  tested  by  independent  witness.  The  primary 
lesion  may  thus  act  as  "a  foreign  body  in  consciousness.'^  Some- 
thing is  introduced  into  psychic  life  which  refuses  to  merge  in 
the  general  flow  of  consciousness.  It  cannot  be  accepted  sim- 
ply as  other  facts  of  life  are  accepted;  it  cannot  even  be  talked 
about,  and  so  submitted  to  the  slow  usure  by  which  our  experi- 
ences are  worn  down  and  gradually  transformed.  Breuer  illus- 
trates what  happens  by  reference  to  the  sneezing  reflex.  "When 
an  irritation  to  the  nasal  mucous  membrane  for  some  reason  fails 
to  liberate  this  reflex,  a  feeling  of  excitement  and  tension  arises. 
This  excitement,  being  unable  to  stream  out  along  motor  chan- 
nels, now  spreads  itself  over  the  brain,  inhibiting  other  activities. 
.  .  .  In  the  highest  spheres  of  human  activity  ire  may  tualch 
the  same  process."  It  is  a  result  of  this  process  that,  as  Breuer 
and  Freud  found,  the  mere  act  of  confession  may  greatly  relieve 
the  hysterical  symptoms  produced  by  this  psychic  mechanism, 
and  in  some  cases  may  wholly  and  permanently  remove  them. 
It  is  part  of  the  mechanism  of  this  process,  as  understood 
by  these  authors,  that  the  physical  symptoms  of  hysteria  are  con- 
stituted, by  a  process  of  conversion,  out  of  the  injured  emotions, 
which  then  sink  into  the  background  or  altogctluM-  out  of  con- 
sciousness.    Thus,  they  found  the  prolonged  tension  of  nursing 


AUTO-EKOTISM.  153 

a  near  and  dear  relative  to  be  a  very  frequent  factor  in  the  pro- 
duction of  hysteria.  For  instance^  an  originally  rheumatic  pain 
experienced  by  a  daughter  when  nursing  her  father  becomes  the 
sj'mbol  in  memory  of  her  painful  psychic  excitement,  and  this 
perhaps  for  several  reasons,  but  chiefly  because  its  presence  in 
consciousness  almost  exactly  coincided  with  that  excitement.  In 
another  way,  again,  nausea  and  vomiting  may  become  a  symbol 
through  the  profound  sense  of  disgust  with  which  some  emo- 
tional shock  was  associated.  Then  the  symbol  begins  to  have  a 
life  of  its  own,  and  draws  hidden  strength  from  the  emotion  with 
which  it  is  correlated.  Breuer  and  Freud  have  found  by  careful 
investigation  that  the  pains  and  physical  troubles  of  hysteria  are 
far  from  being  capricious,  but  may  be  traced  in  a  varying  manner 
to  an  origin  in  some  incident,  some  pain,  some  action,  which  was 
associated  with  a  moment  of  acute  psychic  agony.  The  process 
of  conversion  was  an  involuntary  escape  from  an  intolerable  emo- 
tion, comparable  to  the  physical  pain  sometimes  sought  in  intense 
mental  grief,  and  the  patient  wins  some  relief  from  the  tortured 
emotions,  though  at  the  cost  of  psychic  abnormality,  of  a  more 
or  less  divided  state  of  consciousness  and  of  physical  pain,  or  else 
anesthesia.  In  Charcot^s  third  stage  of  the  hysterical  convulsion, 
that  of  '^attitudes  passionnelles/'  Breuer  and  Freud  see  the  hallu- 
cinatory reproduction  of  a  recollection  which  is  full  of  significance 
for  the  origin  of  the  hysterical  manifestations. 

The  final  result  reached  by  these  workers — whose  detailed 
and  skillful  analysis  of  the  most  diflficult  problem  which  meets 
the  student  of  morbid  psychology  is  of  fascinating  interest — is 
stated  bv  each  writer  in  the  clearest  manner.  "The  main  ob- 
servation  of  our  predecessors,^^  states  Breuer,^  "still  preserved  in 
the  word  ^lysteria,'  is  nearer  to  the  truth  than  the  more  recent 
view  which  puts  sexuality  almost  in  the  last  line,  with  the  object 
of  protecting  the  patient  from  moral  reproaches.  Certainly  the 
sexual  needs  of  the  hysterical  are  just  as  individual  and  as  various 
in  force  as  those  of  the  healthy.  But  they  suffer  from  them,  and 
in  large  measure,  indeed,  they  suffer  precisely  through  the  strug- 


'Studien  liber  Hysterie,"  p.  217. 


154  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

gle  with  them,  through  the  effort  to  thrust  sexuality  aside." 
*'The  weightiest  fact/'"  concludes  Freud/  •'on  which  we  strike  in 
a  thorough  pursuit  of  the  analysis  is  this:  From  whatever  side 
and  from  whatever  symptoms  we  start,  we  always  unfailingly 
reach  the  region  of  the  sexual  life.  Here,  first  of  all,  an  etiological 
condition  of  hysterical  states  is  revealed.  .  .  .  At  the  bot- 
tom of  every  case  of  hysteria — and  reproducible  by  an  analytical 
effort  after  even  an  interval  of  ten  vears — mav  be  found  one  or 
more  facts  of  previous  sexual  experience  belonging  to  early  youth. 
I  regard  this  as  an  important  result,  as  the  discovery  of  a  caput 
Nili  of  neuropatholo2:v.'" 

It  is  natural  to  ask  how  this  conception  affects  that  elab- 
orate picture  of  hysteria  laboriously  achieved  by  Charcot  and 
his  school.  It  cannot  be  said  that  it  abolishes  any  of  the  posi- 
tive results  reached  by  Charcot,  but  it  does  alter  their  significance 
and  value;  it  presents  them  in  a  new  light  and  changes  the  whole 
perspective.  With  his  passion  for  getting  at  tangible  definite 
physical  facts,  Charcot  was  on  very  safe  ground.  But  he  was 
content  to  neglect  the  psychic  analysis  of  hysteria,  while  yet 
proclaiming  that  hysteria  is  a  purely  psychic  disorder.  He  had 
no  cause  of  hysteria  to  present  save  only  heredity.  Breuer  and 
Freud  certainly  admit  heredity,  but,  the  latter  points  out,  the 
part  it  pla3'S  has  been  overrated.  It  is  too  vague  and  general 
to  carry  us  far,  and  when  a  specific  and  definite  cause  can  be 
found  the  part  played  by  heredity  recedes  to  become  merely  a 
condition:  the  soil  on  which  the  ^'specific  etiology"  works.  Here 
probably  Freud's  enthusiasm  has  carried  him  too  far.  The  sexual 
emotion  is  just  as  wide  and  vague  a  cause  as  heredity.  We  can 
only  admit  positively  that  hysteria  is  a  lesion  of  the  psychic 
ororanism.  Freud  has  shown  that  the  sexual  emotions  are  so 
wide-spread  and  profound  an  element  of  the  ps3'chic  organism 
that  a  deep  wound  of  the  psychic  organism,  such  as  hysteria  is, 
cannot  fail  to  lacerate  these  emotions,  and  that  such  laceration 
alone  suffices  to  furnish  n  key  to  the  whole  complexus  of  symp- 
toms. 


Wiener  klinische  Rundschau,  1896. 


AUTO-EROTISM.  150 

The  real  merit  of  Breuer's  and  Freud's  investigations  is  that 
— while  possibly  furnishing  a  justification  of  the  imperfectly- 
understood  idea  that  had  floated  in  the  mind  of  observers  ever 
since  the  name  **hysteria"  was  first  invented — they  have  cer- 
tainly supplied  a  definite  psychic  explanation  of  a  psychic  malady. 
They  have  succeeded  in  presenting  clearly,  at  the  expense  of 
much  labor,  insight,  and  sympathy,^  a  dynamic  view  of  the  psy- 
chic processes  involved  in  the  constitution  of  the  hysterical 
state,  and  such  a  view  seems  to  show  that  the  physical  symptoms 
laboriously  brought  to  light  by  Charcot  are  largely  but  epiphe- 
nomena  and  by-products  of  an  emotional  process,  often  of  tragic 
significance  to  the  subject,  which  is  taking  place  in  the  most 
sensitive  recess  of  the  psychic  organism.  That  the  picture  of 
the  mechanism  involved,  presented  to  us  by  these  investigators, 
— convincing  as  in  many  respects  it  certainly  is, — cannot  be  re- 
garded as  a  final  and  complete  account  of  the  matter  ma}^  readily 
be  admitted.  It  has  developed  in  Freud's  own  hands,  and  some 
of  the  developments  will  require  very  considerable  confirmation 
before  they  can  be  accepted  as  generally  true.  It  may  also  be 
admitted  that  the  attitude  of  the  investigators  is  somewhat  of 
the  nature  of  a  reaction,  and,  like  most  reactions,  errs  by  being 
excessive,  and  that,  while  it  has,  at  length,  been  definitely  shown 
that  lesions  of  the  sexual  emotional  sphere  play  a  real  and  large 
part  in  hysteria,  we  cannot  follow  Freud  in  seeing  in  them  always 
the  chief  factors  in  the  causation.  That  at  all  events  is  my  own 
impression.  But  the  investigations  of  Breuer  and  Freud  have  at 
least  served  to  open  a  door,  which  Charcot  had  inconsistently 
held  closed,  into  the  deeper  mysteries  of  hysteria,  and  have  shown 
that  here,  if  anywhere,  further  research  will  be  profitable.  They 
have  further  served  to  show  that  hysteria  may  be  definitely  re- 
garded as,  in  very  many  cases  at  least,  a  manifestation  of  the 


^  Freud  remarks  that,  while  he  can  undertake  the  treatment  of 
other  nervous  diseases  inde}3endently  of  his  own  personal  feelings  toward 
the  patient,  he  is  unable  to  investigate  an  hysterical  patient  with  the 
thoroughness  necessary  to  obtain  success  unless  he  feels  personal  interest 
and  sympathy  for  the  patient. 


156  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

sexual  emotions  and  their  lesions;  in  other  words,  a  transforma- 
tion of  auto-erotism. 

The  conception  of  hysteria  so  vigorously  enforced  by  Char- 
cot and  his  school  is  thus  now  beginning  to  appear  incomplete. 
But  we  have  to  recognize  that  that  incompleteness  was  right  and 
necessary.  A  strong  reaction  was  needed  against  a  wide-spread 
view  of  hysteria  that  was  not  only  in  large  measure  scientifically 
false,  but  also,  on  account  of  its  falseness,  unjustly  degrading  to 
the  victim  of  hysteria.  It  was  necessary  to  show  clearly  that  hys- 
teria is  a  definite  disorder,  even  when  the  sexual  organs  and 
emotions  are  swept  wholly  out  of  consideration;  and  it  was  also 
necessary  to  show  that  the  lying  and  dissimulation  so  widely  at- 
tributed to  the  hysterical  were  merely  the  result  of  an  ignorant 
and  unscientific  misinterpretation  of  psychic  elements  of  the 
disease.  This  has  been  finally  and  triumphantly  achieved  by 
Charcots  school.  It  is  henceforth  unnecessary  to  demonstrate 
that  hysteria  is  no  more  dishonorable  than  any  other  malady, 
and  often  indeed,  occurs  in  persons  who  are  above,  rather  than 
below,  the  average  in  intelligence  and  moral  character.  The  way 
is  now  open  for  the  delicate  analysis  of  its  complex  psychology, 
in  freedom  from  the  suspicion  that  any  genuine  results  can  be 
either  idle  or  degrading;  and,  if  such  analysis  leads  to  the  con- 
clusion that  lesion  of  the  sexual  emotions  plays  an  important  part 
in  the  symptomatology  or  even  the  etiology  of  hysteria,  we  need 
not  now  fear  that  we  are  in  danger  of  casting  contempt  upon  the 
hysterical. 

It  seems  probable  that  future  advances  in  the  explanation 
of  hysteria  must  lie  in  further  psychic  analysis,  and  at  the  same 
time  in  the  more  intimate  correlation  of  that  analysis  witli  those 
physical  symptoms  of  which  Charcot  has  given  a  masterly  pre- 
sentment, and  which,  at  the  present  day,  Sollier  is  striving,  not 
unsuccessfully,  to  reveal  still  further. 

There  is  only  one  point  in  the  explanation  of  hysteria  which 
I  will  here  refer  to,  and  that  because  it  is  usually  ignored,  iind 
because  it  has  rolationshi])  to  tbc  general  psychology  of  the  sexual 
emotions.  I  refer  to  that  physiological  hysteria  which  is  the 
normal  counterpart  of  the  pathological  hysteria  which  has  Ijcen 


AUTO-KROTISM.  157 

described  in  its  physical  details  by  Charcot,  and  to  which  alone 
the  term  sliould  strictly  be  applied.  Even  though  hysteria  as  a 
disease  may  be  described  as  one  and  indivisible,  there  are  yet  to 
be  found,  among  the  ordinary  and  fairly  healthy  population, 
vague  and  diffused  hysteroid  symptoms  which  are  dissipated  in 
a  healthy  environment,  or  pass  nearly  unnoted,  only  to  develop 
in  a  small  proportion  of  cases,  under  the  influence  of  a  more  pro- 
nounced heredity  or  a  severe  physical  or  psychic  lesion,  into 
that  definite  morbid  state  which  is  properly  called  hysteria. 

This  diffused  hysteroid  condition  may  be  illustrated  by  the 
results  of  a  psychological  investigation  carried  on  in  America  by 
Miss  Gertrude  Stein  among  the  ordinary  male  and  female  stu- 
dents of  Harvard  University  and  Eadcliffe  College.  The  object 
of  the  investigation  was  to  study,  with  the  aid  of  a  planchette, 
the  varying  liability  to  automatic  movements  among  normal  in- 
dividuals. Xearly  one  hundred  students  were  submitted  to  ex- 
periment. It  was  found  that  automatic  responses  could  be  ob- 
tained in  two  sittings  from  all  but  a  small  proportion  of  the 
students  of  both  sexes,  but  that  there  were  two  types  of  indi- 
vidual who  showed  a  special  aptitude.  One  type  (probably  show- 
ing the  embryonic  form  of  neurasthenia)  was  a  nervous,  high- 
strung,  imaginative  type,  not  easily  influenced  from  without,  and 
not  so  much  suggestible  as  autosuggestible.  The  other  type, 
which  is  significant  from  our  present  point  of  view,  is  thus  de- 
scribed by  Miss  Stein:  "In  general  the  individuals,  often  blonde 
and  pale,  are  distinctly  phlegmatic.  If  emotional,  decidedly  of 
the  weakest,  sentimental  order.  They  may  be  either  large, 
healthy,  rather  heavy,  and  lacking  in  vigor  or  they  may  be 
what  we  call  anemic  and  phlegmatic.  Their  power  of  concen- 
trated attention  is  very  small.  They  describe  themselves  as 
never  being  held  by  their  work;  they  say  that  their  minds 
wander  easily;  that  they  work  on  after  they  are  tired,  and  just 
keep  pegging  away.  They  are  very  apt  to  have  premonitory  con- 
versations, they  anticipate  the  words  of  their  friends,  they  im- 
agine whole  conversations  that  afterward  come  true.  The  feel- 
ing of  having  been  there  is  very  common  with  them;  that  is, 
they  feel  under  given  circumstances  that  they  have  had  that 


158  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

identical  experience  before  in  all  its  details.  They  are  often 
fatalistic  in  their  ideas.  They  indulge  in  day-dreams.  As  a  rule, 
they  are  highly  suggestible."'^ 

There  we  have  a  picture  of  the  physical  constitution  and 
psychic  temperament  on  which  the  classical  symptoms  of  hys- 
teria might  easily  be  built  up.^  But  these  persons  were  ordinary 
students,  and  while  a  few  of  their  characteristics  are  what  is  com- 
monly and  A'aguely  called  ''morbid/''  on  the  whole,  they  must  be 
regarded  as  ordinarily  healthy  individuals.  They  have  the  con- 
genital constitution  and  predisposition  on  which  some  severe 
psychic  lesion  at  the  "psychological  moment"  might  develop  the 
most  definite  and  obstinate  symptoms  of  hysteria,  but  under 
favorable  circumstances  they  will  be  ordinary  men  and  women, 
of  no  more  than  ordinary  abnormality  or  ordinary  power.  They 
are  among  the  many  who  have  been  called  to  hysteria  at  birth; 
they  may  never  be  among  the  few  who  are  chosen. 

We  may  have  to  recognize  that  on  the  side  of  the  sexual 
emotions,  as  well  as  in  general  constitution,  a  condition  may  be 
traced  among  normal  persons  that  is  hysteroid  in  character,  and 
serves  as  the  healthy  counterpart  of  a  condition  which  in  hys- 
teria is  morbid.  In  women  such  a  condition  has  been  traced 
(though  misnamed)  by  Dr.  A.  F.  A.  King.^ 

Dr.  King  describes  Avhat  he  calls  "sexual  hysteria  in  women,"  which 
he  considers  a  chief  variety  of  hysteria.  He  adds,  however,  that  it  is 
not  strictly  a  disease,  but  simply  an  automatic  reaction  of  the  repro- 
ductive system  which  tends  to  become  abnormal  under  conditions  of 
civilization,  and  to  be  perpetuated  in  a  morbid  form.  Tn  this  condition 
he   finds   twelve   characters:     1.    Time   of   life,   usually   between   jiubcrty 


^  Gertrude  Stein.  "Cultivated  Motor  Automatism,"  Psychological 
Review,  May,  1898. 

^Charcot's  most  faithful  followers  refuse  to  reco^iize  an  "hysteric 
temperament."  and  are  quite  rij^ht.  if  such  a  conception  is  used  to  de- 
stroy the  conception  of  hysteria  as  a  definite  disease.  We  cannot,  how- 
ever, fail  to  recofjnize  a  diathesis  which,  while  still  apparently  liealthy, 
is  predisposed  to  hysteria.  So  distinpruished  a  disciple  of  Charcot  as 
Janet  thorouj^'hly  reco«rni/,es  this,  and  ar^rues  ("L'Etat  mental,"  etc., 
p.  298)  that  "we  may  find  in  the  habits,  tlie  passions,  the  psychic 
automatism  of  the  normal  man  the  germ  of  all  hysterical  phenomena." 
YOrf"  holds  a  somewhat  similar  view. 

'  Kinpr.  "Hycteria."  American  Journal  of  Obstetrics,  May  18.  1891. 


AUTO-EROTISM.  159 

and  climacteric.  2.  Attacks  rarely  occur  ^vhen  subject  is  alone.  3.  Sub- 
ject appears  unconscious,  but  is  not  really  so.  4.  She  is  instinctively 
ashamed  afterward.  5.  It  occurs  usually  in  single  women,  or  in  those, 
single  or  married,  Avhose  sexual  needs  are  unsatisfied.  G.  No  external 
evidence  of  disease,  and  (as  Aitken  pointed  out)  the  nates  are  not  flat- 
tened; the  woman's  physical  condition  is  not  impaired,  and  she  may  be 
specially  attractive  to  men.  7.  Warmth  of  climate  and  the  season  of 
spring  and  summer  are  conducive  to  the  condition  (Eussell  Reynolds).* 
8.  The  paroxysm  is  short  and  temporary.  9.  While  light  touches  are 
painful,  firm  pressure  and  rough  handling  give  relief.  10.  It  may  occur 
in  the  occupied,  but  an  idle,  purposeless  life  is  conducive.  11.  The  sub- 
ject delights  in  exciting  sympathy  and  in  being  fondled  and  caressed. 
12.  There  is  defect  of  Mill  and  a  strong  stimulus  is  required  to  lead 
to  action. 

Among  civilized  women,  the  author  proceeds,  this  condition  does 
not  appear  to  subserve  any  useful  purpose.  "Let  us,  however,  go  back 
to  aboriginal  woman — to  woman  of  the  woods  and  the  fields.  Let  us 
picture  ourselves  a  young  aboriginal  Venus  in  one  of  her  earliest  hyster- 
ical paroxysms.  In  doing  so  let  us  not  forget  some  of  the  twelve  char- 
acteristics previously  mentioned.  She  will  not  be  'acting  her  part'  alone, 
or,  if  alone,  it  will  be  in  a  place  w^here  someone  else  is  likely  soon  to 
discover  her.  Let  this  Venus  be  now  discovered  by  a  youthful  Apollo 
of  the  woods,  a  man  with  fully  developed  animal  instincts.  He  and  she, 
like  any  other  animals,  are  in  the  free  field  of  Nature,  He  cannot  but 
observe  to  himself:  'This  woman  is  not  dead;  she  breathes  and  is  warm; 
she  does  not  look  ill;  she  is  plump  and  rosy.'  He  speaks  to  her;  she 
neither  hears  (apparently)  nor  responds.  Her  eyes  are  closed.  He 
touches,  moves,  and  handles  her  at  his  pleasure.  She  makes  no  resist- 
ance. What  will  this  primitive  Apollo  do  next?  He  will  cure  the  fit, 
and  bring  the  woman  back  to  consciousness,  satisfy  her  emotions, 
and  restore  her  volition — not  by  delicate  touches  that  might  be  'agoniz- 
ing' to  her  hyperesthctic  skin,  but  by  vigorous  massage,  passive  motions, 
and  succussion  that  would  be  painless.  The  emotional  process  on  the 
part  of  the  woman  would  end,  perhaps,  with  mingled  laughter,  tears, 
and  shame;  and  when  accused  afterward  of  the  part  which  the  ances- 
trally-acquired properties  of  her  nervous  system  had  compelled  her  to 
act.  as  a  preliminary  to  the  event,  what  woman  would  not  deny  it  and 
be  angry?  But  the  course  of  Nature  having  been  followed,  the  natural 
purpose  of  the  hysterical  paroxysm  accomplished,  there  would  remain  as 


^  This  observation,  however,  possesses  far  greater  antiquity  than 
King  here  assigns  to  it.  It  was  made  among  the  Greeks,  as  we  have 
already  noted.  True  hysteria,  in  the  modern  sense,  appears  to  be  gen- 
erally regarded  as  independent  of  season. 


160  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

a    result    of   the    treatment — instead    of    one    discontented    woman — two 
happy  people  and  the  possible  beginning  of  a   third." 

"Natural,  primary  sexual  hysteria  in  woman,"  concludes  Dr.  King, 
"is  a  temporary'  modification  of  the  nervous  government  of  the  body 
and  the  distribution  of  nerve-force  (occurring  for  the  most  part,  as  we 
see  it  to-day,  in  prudish  women  of  strong  moral  principle,  whose  voli- 
tion has  disposed  them  to  resist  every  sort  of  liberty  or  apjnoach  from 
the  other  sex),  consisting  in  a  transient  abdication  of  the  general,  voli- 
tional, and  self-preservational  ego,  ^\hile  the  reins  of  government  are 
temporarily  assigned  to  the  usurping  power  of  the  reproductive  ego,  so 
that  the  reproductive  government  overrules  the  government  by  volition, 
and  thus,  as  it  were,  forcibly  compels  the  woman's  organism  to  so  dispose 
itself,  at  a  suitable  time  and  place,  as  to  allow,  invite,  and  secure  the 
approach  of  the  other  sex,  whether  she  will  or  not,  to  the  end  that 
Nature's  imperious  demand  for  reproduction  shall  be  obeyed." 

It  must  be  pointed  out  that  Dr.  King  is  wholly  unjustified, 
as  well  as  illogical  (since  he  admits  it  is  not  a  disease),  in  calling 
such  a  condition  "hysteria."  At  the  same  time,  we  may  admit  that 
his  rather  fantastic  description  presents  a  state  which,  if  not  the 
real  physiological  counterpart  of  the  hysterical  convulsion,  is  yet 
distinctly  analogous  to  the  latter.  The  sexual  orgasm  has  this 
correspondence  with  the  hysterical  fit,  that  they  both  serve  to  dis- 
charge the  nervous  centres  and  relieve  emotional  tension.  It  may 
even  happen,  especially  in  the  less  severe  forms  of  hysteria,  that 
the  sexual  orgasm  takes  place  during  the  hysterical  fit;  this  was 
found  by  Eosenthal,  of  Vienna,  to  be  always  the  case  in  the  semi- 
conscious paroxysms  of  a  young  girl,  whose  condition  was  easily 
cured ;^  no  doubt  such  cases  would  be  more  frequently  found  if 
they  were  sought  for.  In  severe  forms  of  hysteria,  however,  it 
frequently  ha])pens,  as  so  many  observers  have  noted,  that  nor- 
mal sexual  excitement  has  ceased  to  give  satisfaction,  lias  be- 
come painful,  perverted,  paradoxical.  Uiciiei-  and  Freud  enable 
us  to  see  liow  a  shock  to  the  sexual  emotions,  injuring  the  emo- 
tional life  at  its  source,  can  scarcely  fail  sometimes  to  produce 
such  a  result.     But  the  necessity  for  nervous  explosion  still  per- 


'  M.  Roaenllial.  "Diseases  of  tlie  Nervous  System."  vol.  ii,  p.  44. 
Ft'rt'  notes  similar  cases,  "'ruciiliclli  Cciiliny  Practice  of  INTcdicine," 
volume  X,  p.  ^)~A. 


AUTO-EROTISM.  161 

sists.^  It  may,  indeed,  persist,  even  in  an  abnormally  strong 
degree,  in  consequence  of  the  inhibition  of  normal  activities  gen- 
erally. The  convulsive  fit  is  the  only  form  of  relief  open  to  the 
tension.  "A  lady  whom  I  long  attended,"  remarks  Ashwell, 
"always  rejoiced  when  the  fit  was  over,  since  it  relieved  her  sys- 
tem generally,  and  especially  her  brain,  from  painful  irritation 
which  had  existed  for  several  previous  days."  That  the  fit  mostly 
fails  to  give  real  satisfaction,  and  that  it  fails  to  cure  the  disease, 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  it  is  a  morbid  form  of  relief.  The  same 
character  of  hysteria  is  seen,  with  more  satisfactory  results  for 
the  most  part,  in  the  influence  of  external  nervous  shock.  It  was 
the  misunderstood  influence  of  such  shocks  in  removing  hysteria 
which  in  former  times  led  to  the  refusal  to  regard  hysteria  as  a 
serious  disease.  During  the  Rebellion  of  1745-46  in  Scotland 
Cullen  remarks  that  there  was  little  hysteria.  The  same  was  true 
of  the  French  Revolution  and  of  the  Irish  Rebellion,  while  Rush 
(in  a  study  "On  the  Influence  of  the  American  Revolution  on  the 
Human  Body")  observed  that  many  hysterical  women  were  "re- 
stored to  perfect  health  by  the  events  of  the  time."  In  such 
cases  the  emotional  tension  is  given  an  opportunity  of  explosion 
in  new  and  impersonal  channels,  and  the  chain  of  morbid  per- 
sonal emotions  is  broken. 

It  has  been  urged  by  some  that  the  fact  that  the  sexual 
orgasm  fails  to  remove  the  disorder  in  true  hysteria  excludes  a 
sexual  factor  of  hysteria.  It  is  really,  one  may  point  out,  an 
argument  in  favor  of  such  an  element  as  one  of  the  factors  of 
hysteria.  If  there  were  no  initial  lesion  of  the  sexual  emotions, 
if  the  natural  healthy  sexual  channel  still  remained  free  for  the 
passage  of  the  emotional  overflow,  then  we  should  expect  that  it 
would  much  oftener  come  into  play  in  the  removal  of  hysteria. 
In  the  more  healthy,  merely  h^^steroid  condition,  the  psychic 
sexual  organism  is  not  injured,  and  still  responds  normally,  re- 
moving the  abnormal  symptoms  when  allowed  to  do  so.    It  is  the 


^  There  seems  to  be  a  greater  necessity  for  such  explosive  manifesta- 
tions in  women  than  in  men,  whatever  the  reason  may  be.  I  have 
brought  together  some  of  the  evidence  pointing  in  this  direction  in  "Man 
and  "Woman,"  Chapters  xii  and  xiii. 

11 


10::^  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

confusion  between  this  almost  natural  condition  and  the  truly 
morbid  condition,  alone  properly  called  hysteria,  which  led  to 
the  ancient  opinion,  inaugurated  by  Plato  and  Hippocrates,  that 
hysteria  may  be  cured  by  marriage.  The  difference  may  be  illus- 
trated bv  the  difference  between  a  distended  bladder  which  is 
still  able  to  contract  normally  on  its  contents  when  at  last  an 
opportunity  of  doing  so  is  afforded  and  the  bladder  in  which  dis- 
tension has  been  so  prolonged  that  nervous  control  had  been  lost 
and  spontaneous  expulsion  has  become  impossible.  The  first  con- 
dition corresponds  to  the  constitution  which,  w'hile  simulating 
an  hysterical  condition,  is  healthy  enough  to  react  normally  in 
spite  of  psychic  lesions;  the  second  corresponds  to  a  state  in 
which,  owing  to  the  prolonged  stress  of  psychic  traumatism, — 
sexual  or  not, — a  definite  condition  of  hysteria  has  arisen.  The 
one  state  is  healthy,  though  abnormal;  the  other  is  one  of  pro- 
nounced morbidity. 

There  is  some  danger  of  misunderstanding  in  this  suggestion 
that  a  condition  of  true  hysteria  is  linked  on  to  almost  healthy 
states,  and  especially  to  a  condition  which  may  be  described 'as 
one  of  sex-hunger.  But  such  a  suggestion  may  help  us  to  see 
these  puzzling  phenomena  in  their  true  nature  and  perspective. 
Provided,  moreover,  that  we  recognize  the  definite  character  of 
hysteria  as  a  disease,  ^'one  and  indivisible/'  we  obtain  greater 
clearness  rather  than  greater  obscurity  by  recognizing,  also,  that 
the  phenomena  observed  by  the  ancients,  though  improperly  con- 
founded with  hysteria,  as  we  have  finally  learned  to  define  its 
symptoms  (as  well  as  with  epilepsy),  still  have  a  basis  of  physio- 
logical truth,  and  still  have  a  bearing  on  the  general  psychology 
of  sex,  as  constituting  a  manifestation  of  auto-erotism. 

At  this  point  I  may  refer  to  the  interesting  parallel,  and  probable 
real  rclationsliip.  between  hysteria  and  chlorosis.  As  Luzet  has  said, 
liysteria  and  clilorosis  are  sisters.  We  have  seen  that  there  is  some 
ground  for  regarding  hysteria  as  an  exaggerated  form  of  a  normal 
]>rocess  which  is  really  an  auto-erotic  phenomenon.  There  is  some 
L'vonnd.  also,  for  regarding  chlorosis  as  the  exaggeration  of  a  physio- 
logical state  'connected  with  sexual  conditions,  more  specifically  with 
the  preparation  for  maternity.  Hysteria  is  so  frequently  associated 
with  anemic  conditions  that  Biernacki  has  argued  that  such  conditions 


AUTO-EROTISM.  163 

really  constitute  the  primary  and  fundamental  cause  of  hysteria  {Neu- 
rolofjischcs  Ccntralhlatt.  March,  1898).  And  centuries  before  Biernacki, 
Sydenham  had  stated  his  belief  that  poverty  of  the  blood  is  the  chief 
cause  of  hysteria. 

It  would  be  some  confirmation  of  this  position  if  we  could  believe 
that  chlorosis,  like  hysteria,  is  in  some  degree  a  congenital  condition. 
This  \\as  the  view  of  Virchow,  who  regarded  chlorosis  as  essentially  de- 
pendent on  a  congenital  hypoplasia  of  the  arterial  system.  Stieda,  on 
the  basis  of  an  elaborate  study  of  twenty-three  cases,  has  endeavored 
to  prove  that  chlorosis  is  due  to  a  congenital  defect  of  development 
{Zeitschrift  fiir  Gehurtshiilfe  nnd  Gynukologie,  vol.  xxxii.  Part  1,  1895). 
His  facts  tend  to  prove  that  in  chlorosis  there  are  signs  of  general  ill- 
development,  and  that  in  particular  there  is  imperfect  development  of 
the  breasts  and  sexual  organs,  with  a  tendency  to  contracted  pelvis. 
Charrin,  again,  regards  utero-ovarian  inadequacy  as  at  least  one  of  the 
factors  of  chlorosis.  Chlorosis,  in  its  extreme  form,  may  thus  be  regarded 
as  a  disorder  of  development,  a  sign  of  physical  degeneracy.  Even  if  not 
strictly  a  cause,  a  congenital  condition  may,  as  Stockman  believes 
{BritisJi  Medical  Journal,  December  14,  1895),  be  a  predisposing  influ- 
ence. 

However  it  may  be  in  extreme  cases,  there  is  very  considerable 
evidence  to  indicate  that  the  ordinary  anemia  of  young  Avomen  may  be 
due  to  a  storing  up  of  iron  in  the  system,  and  is  so  far  normal,  being  a 
preparation  for  the  function  of  reproduction.  Some  observations  of 
Bunge's  seem  to  throw  much  light  on  the  real  cause  of  what  may  be 
termed  physiological  chlorosis.  He  found  by  a  series  of  experiments  on 
animals  of  diflerent  ages  that  voung  animals  contain  a  much  greater 
amount  of  iron  in  their  tissues  than  adult  animals;  that,  for  instance, 
the  body  of  a  rabbit  an  hour  after  birth  contains  more  than  four  times 
as  much  iron  as  that  of  a  rabbit  two  and  a  half  months  old.  It  thus 
appears  probable  that  at  the  period  of  puberty  and  later  there  is  a 
storage  of  iron  in  the  system  preparatory  to  the  exercise  of  the  maternal 
functions.  It  is  precisely  between  the  ages  of  15  and  23.  as  Stockman 
found  by  an  analysis  of  his  own  cases  {British  Medical  Journal, 
December  14,  1895),  that  the  majority  of  cases  occur;  there  was,  indeed, 
he  found,  no  case  in  which  the  first  onset  was  later  than  the  age  of  23. 
A  similar  result  is  revealed  by  the  charts  of  Lloyd  Jones,  which  cover  a 
vastly  greater  number  of  cases. 

It  is  to  Lloyd  Jones  that  we  owe  the  most  important  contribution 
to  the  knowledge  of  chlorosis  in  its  physiological  or  normal  relationships. 
He  has  shown  that  chlorosis  is  but  the  exaggeration  of  a  condition  that 
is  normal  at  puberty  (and  in  many  women  at  each  menstrual  period), 
and  which,  there  is  good  reason  to  believe,  even  has  a  favorable  influ- 
ence on  fertility.     He  found  that  light-complexioned  persons  are  more 


164  PSYCHOLOGY   OF    SEX. 

fertile  than  the  dark  complexioned,  and  that  at  the  same  time  the  blood 
of  the  latter  is  of  less  specific  gravity,  containing  less  hemoglobin. 
Lloyd  Jones  also  reached  the  generalization  that  girls  who  have  had 
chlorosis  are  often  remarkably  pretty,  so  that  the  tendency  to  chlorosis 
is  associated  with  all  the  sexual  and  reproductive  aptitudes  that  make 
a  woman  attractive  to  a  man.  His  conclusion  is  that  the  normal  condi- 
tion of  which  chlorosis  is  the  extreme  and  pathological  condition  is  a 
preparation  for  motherhood  (E.  Lloj'd  Jones,  "Chlorosis:  the  Special 
Anemia  of  Young  Women,"  1897;  also  numerous  reports  to  the  British 
Medical  Association,  published  in  the  British  Medical  Journal.  There 
was  an  interesting  discussion  of  the  theories  of  chlorosis  at  the  Moscow 
International  Medical  Congress  in  1898;  see  proceedings  of  the  congress, 
volume  iii,  section  v,  pp.  224  et  seq.). 

We  may  thus,  perhaps,  understand  why  it  is  that  hysteria  and 
anemia  are  often  combined,  and  why  they  are  botli  most  frequently 
found  in  adolescent  young  women  who  have  yet  had  no  sexual  experi- 
ences. Chlorosis  is  a  physical  phenomenon,  hysteria  an  auto-erotic 
psychic  phenomenon:  yet  both  alike  may,  to  some  extent  at  least,  be 
regarded  as  sexual  aptitude  showing  itself  in  extreme  and  pathological 
forms. 


III. 

The  Prevalence  of  Masturbation — Its  Occurrence  in  Infancy  and 
Childhood — Is  it  More  Frequent  in  Males  or  Females? — After  Adolescence 
Apparently  More  Frequent  in  Women — Reasons  for  the  Sexual  Distribu- 
tion of  Masturbation — The  Alleged  Evils  of  Masturbation — Historical 
Sketch  of  the  Views  held  on  this  Point — The  Symptoms  and  Results  of 
Masturbation — Its  Alleged  Influence  in  causing  Eye  Disorders — Its  Rela- 
tion to  Insanity  and  Nervous  Disorders — The  Evil  Effects  of  Masturba- 
tion Usually  Occur  on  the  Basis  of  a  Congenitally  Morbid  Nervous  Sys- 
tem— Neurasthenia  Probably  the  Commonest  Accompaniment  of  Excess- 
ive Masturbation — Precocious  Masturbation  Tends  to  Produce  Aversion 
to  Coitus — Psychic  Results  of  Habitual  Masturbation — Masturbation 
in  Men  of  Genius — Masturbation  as  a  Nervous  Sedative — Typical  Cases 
— The  Greek  Attitude  toward  Masturbation — Attitude  of  the  Catholic 
Theologians — The  Mohammedan  Attitude — The  Modern  Scientific  Atti- 
tude— In  "what  Sense  is  Masturbation  Normal?- — The  Immense  Part  in 
Life  played  by  Transmuted  Auto-erotic  Phenomena. 

The  foregoing  sketch  will  serve  to  show  how  vast  is  the  field 
of  life — of  normal,  and  not  merely  abnormal  life — more  or  less 
infused  by  auto-erotic  phenomena.  If,  however,  we  proceed  to 
investigate  precisely  the  exact  extent,  degree,  and  significance  of 
such  phenomena,  we  are  met  by  many  difficulties.  We  find,  in- 
deed, that  no  attempts  have  been  made  to  study  auto-erotic 
phenomena,  except  as  regards  the  group — a  somewhat  artificial 
group,  as  I  have  already  tried  to  show — collected  under  the  term 
"masturbation,"  while  even  here  such  attempts  ha\'e  only  been 
made  among  abnormal  classes  of  people,  or  have  been  conducted 
in  a  manner  scarcely  likely  to  yield  reliable  results.^  Still  there 
is  a  certain  sio'nificance  in  the  more  careful  investio^ations  which 
have  been  made  to  ascertain  the  precise  frequency  of  masturba- 
tion. 

Berger,  an  experienced  specialist  in  nervous  diseases,  con- 


^  For  a  bibliography  of  masturbation,  see  Rohleder,  "Die  Mastur- 
bation," pp.  11-18. 

(165) 


166  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

eludes,  in  his  '•Vorlesungen/*'  that  99  per  cent,  of  young  men  and 
women  masturbate  occasionally,  while  the  hundredth  conceals 
the  truth  ;^  and  Hermann  Cohn  appears  to  accept  this  statement 
as  generally  true  in  Germany.  So  high  an  estimate  has.  of  course, 
been  called  in  question,  and,  since  it  appears  to  rest  on  no  basis 
of  careful  investigation,  we  need  not  seriously  consider  it.  It 
is  useless  to  argue  on  suppositions;  we  must  cling  to  our  definite 
evidence,  even  though  it  yields  figures  which  are  probably  below 
the  mark.  Rohlcdcr  considers  that  during  adolescence  at  least 
95  per  cent,  of  both  sexes  masturbate,  but  his  figures  are  not 
founded  on  precise  investigation.-  Moraglia,  who  made  inquiry 
of  200  women  of  the  lower  class  in  Italy,  found  that  120  acknowl- 
edged either  that  they  still  masturbate  or  that  they  had  done  so 
during  a  long  period."^  This  brings  down  Berger's  99  per  cent, 
to  60,  though  it  must  be  admitted  that  it  refers  to  another  coun- 
trv,  and  onlv  a  sinsfle  sex;  and  makes  no  allowance  for  a  balance 
of  unacknowledged  practices  or  for  only  occasional  indulgence 
in  masturbation.  ''Here  in  Switzerland.''  a  correspondent  writes, 
^'I  have  had  occasion  to  learn  from  adult  men,  whom  I  can  trust, 
that  they  have  reached  the  age  of  twent3^-five.  or  over,  without 
sexual  congress.  'Wir  liahen  nicht  dieses  Bed'urfniss'  is  what  they 
say.  But  I  believe  that,  in  the  case  of  the  Swiss  mountaineers, 
moderate  onanism  is  practiced,  as  a  rule."  In  hot  countries  the 
same  habits  are  found  at  a  more  precocious  age.  In  Venezuela, 
for  instance,  among  the  white  Spanish  Creoles.  Ernst  found  that 
in  all  classes  boys  and  girls  are  infested  with  the  vice  of  onanism. 
They  learn  it  early,  in  the  very  beginning  of  life,  from  their  wet- 
nurses,  generally  low  ^lulatto  women,  and  many  reasons  help  to 
foster  the  habit:  the  young  men  are  often  dissipated  and  the 
vounu  wnuien  of tou  roiunin  sinirlo.'*     yicoforo.  who  shows  a  spe- 


'  Osf-ar  "Borpor.   .Xrcliiv   fiir  Psychiatric.  B.  0.    ISTO. 

=  "Dic  :\Tasturl)ation."  p.  41. 

'Moraplia.  "Die  Onanic  bcini  nortiialcn  Wcibc  \\m\  hv\  don  Prosti- 
tutcn."  Zcitsclirifl  fiir  Crimiiicllc  .Xnthropoloprio.  1807.  p.  489.  It  sl.ould 
be  added  that  Moraprlia  is  not  a  very  critical  invcstifjator.  It  is  probable, 
however,  that  on  this  point  his  results  are  an  approximation  to  the  truth. 

'  Kni-it.  ".AnthropoIof.Mcal  Researches  on  the  Population  of  Vene- 
zuela." "Mciiinir^  of  llic  Antliropolopical  Society."  vol.  iii.  1S70.  p.  277. 


AUTO-EROTISM.  167 

cial  knowledge  of  the  working-girl  class  at  Rome,  states  that  in 
many  milliners'  and  dress-makers'  work-rooms,  where  vounsr 
girls  are  employed,  it  frequently  happens  that  during  the 
hottest  hours  of  the  day,  between  twelve  and  two,  when  the 
mistress  or  forewoman  is  asleep,  all  the  girls  without  excep- 
tion give  themselves  np  to  masturbation.^  The  medical  officer 
of  a  Prussian  reformatory  told  Rohleder  that  nearly  all  the 
inmates  over  the  age  of  pnberty  masturbated.  Ferriani,  who 
has  made  an  elaborate  studv  of  youthful  criminality  in  Italy, 
states  that  even  if  all  boys  and  girls  among  the  general  popula- 
tion do  not  masturbate,  it  is  certainly  so  among  those  that  have 
a  tendency  to  crime.  Among  458  adult  male  criminals,  Marro 
(as  he  states  in  his  "Carateri  dei  Delinquenti")  found  that  only 
72  denied  masturbation,  while  386  had  practiced  it  from  an  early 
age,  140  of  them  before  the  age  of  thirteen.^  Among  30  criminal 
women  Moraglia  found  that  24  acknowledged  the  practice,  at  all 
events  in  early  youth  (8  of  them  before  the  age  of  10,  a  precocity 
accompanied  by  average  precocity  in  menstruation),  while  he  sus- 
pected that  most  of  the  remainder  were  not  unfamiliar  with  the 
practice.  Among  prostitutes  of  whatever  class  or  position  Mora- 
glia foimd  masturbation  (though  it  must  be  pointed  out  that  he 
does  not  appear  to  distinguish  masturbation  very  clearly  from 
homosexual  practices)  to  be  universal;  in  one  group  of  50  pros- 
titutes everyone  had  practiced  masturbation  at  some  period;  28 
began  between  the  ages  of  6  and  11;  19,  between  12  and  14,  the 
most  usual  period — a  precocious  one — of  commencing  puberty; 
the  remaining  3  at  15  and  16;  the  average  of  commencing  mas- 
turbation, it  may  be  added,  was  11,  while  that  of  the  first  sexual 


^  Xiceforo.  "II  Gergo  nei  Normali,"  etc.,  1897,  cap.  v. 

"  Whi^e  all  the  evidence  shows  that  a  similar  condition  of  things 
may  be  found  everywhere  among  criminals,  or  at  all  events  prisoners,  of 
the  European  race,  I  am  doubtful  how  far  the  same  is  true  of  non- 
European  races.  Dr.  Buchanan,  Superintendent  of  the  Central  Indian 
Prison,  at  Bhagalpur,  Avrites  to  me:  "I  have  made  frequent  inquiries 
about  the  prevalence  of  masturbation.  It  does  not  appear  to  be  as  com- 
mon as  I  expected  among  prisoners.  Among  the  well-to-do,  badly  trained 
sons  of  wealthy  natives,"  he  added,  "I  have  had  frequent  experience  of 
it  in  medical  practice.  I  remember  well  the  very  bad  case  of  a  Christian 
Bible  teacher,  who  consulted  me  in  horror  at  his  Aveakness." 


168  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

intercourse  was  15.^  In  a  larger  group  of  180  prostitutes,  be- 
longing to  Genoa,  Turin,  Venice,  etc.,  and  among  23  *'*elegant 
cocottes,''  of  Italian  and  foreign  origin,  Moraglia  obtained  the 
same  results;  everyone  admitted  masturbation,  and  not  less  than 
113  preferred  masturbation,  either  solitary  or  mutual,  to  normal 
coitus.  Among  the  insane,  as  among  idiots,  masturbation  is 
somewhat  more  common  among  males,  according  to  Blandford, 
in  England,  as  also  it  is  in  Germany,  according  to  jSTacke,-  while 
Yenturi,  in  Italy,  has  found  it  more  common  anions:  females.^ 
There  appears  to  be  no  limit  to  the  age  at  which  spontaneous 
masturbation  may  begin  to  appear.  I  have  already  referred  to 
the  practice  of  thigh-rubbing  in  infants  under  one  year  of  age. 
J.  P.  West  has  reported  in  detail  3  cases  of  masturbation  in  very 
early  childhood — 2  in  girls,  1  in  a  boy — in  which  the  practice 
had  been  acquired  spontaneously,  and  could  only  be  traced  to 
some  source  of  irritation  in  pressure  from  clothing,  etc."^  Prob- 
ably there  is  often  in  such  cases  an  hereditary  lack  of  nervous 
stability.  Block  has  recorded  the  case  of  a  girl — very  bright  for 
her  age,  though  excessively  shy  and  taciturn — who  began  mas- 
turbating spontaneously  at  the  age  of  two;  in  this  case  the  mother 
had  masturbated  all  her  life,  even  continuing  the  practice  after 
marriage,  and,  though  she  succeeded  in  refraining  during  preg- 
nancy, her  thoughts  still  dwelt  upon  it,  while  the  maternal  grand- 
mother had  died  in  an  asylum  from  ^^masturbatory  insanity." 
Xormally  there  appears  to  be  a  varying  aptitude  to  experience  the 
sexual  orgasm  or  any  voluptuous  sensations  before  puberty.  I 
find,  on  eliciting  the  recollections  of  normal  persons,  that  in  some 
cases  there  have  been  voluptuous  sensations  from  casual  contact 
with  the  sexual  organs  at  a  very  early  age;  in  other  cases  there  lias 
been  occasional  slight  excitement  from  early  years;  in  yet  other 
cases  complete  sexual  anesthesia  until  the  age  of  puberty.    That 


'  Moraglia,  Archivio  di  Psiehiatria,  vol.  xvi,  faso.  4  and  5,  p.  313. 

•  Sco  liis  caroful  stiulv,  "Dio  Sox.  perversit.  in  d.  Irrenansalt,"  Psy- 
chiatrisoho  liladon.  No.  2.'l89{). 

"Venturi,  "DcnrfMiorazioni  Psico-sessuali."  pp.  105,  133,  148.  152. 

*J.  P.  Wost.,  "Transactions  of  the  Oliio  Pcdiatrio  Society,"  1895. 
Abstract  in  Medical  Standard,  November,  ]8!)5. 


AUTO-EROTISM.  '  169 

the  latter  condition  is  not  due  to  mere  absence  of  peripheral  irri- 
tation is  shown  by  a  case  I  am  acquainted  with,  in  which  a  boy  of 
7,  incited  by  a  companion,  innocently  attempted,  at  intervals 
during  several  weeks,  to  produce  erection  by  friction  of  the  penis; 
no  result  of  any  kind  followed,  although  erections  occurred  spon- 
taneously at  puberty,  with  normal  sexual  feelings. 

I  am  indebted  to  a  correspondent  for  the  following  notes:  — 

"From  my  observation  during  five  years  at  a  boarding-school  it 
seems  that  eight  out  of  ten  boys  were  more  or  less  addicted  to  the  prac- 
tice. But  I  would  not  state  positively  that  such  was  the  proportion  of 
masturbators  among  an  average  of  thirty  pupils,  though  the  habit  was 
very  common.  T  know  that  in  one  bedroom,  sleeping  seven  boys,  the 
whole  number  masturbated  frequently.  The  act  was  performed  in  bed,  in 
the  closets,  and  sometimes  in  the  class-rooms  during  lessons.  Inquiry 
among  my  friends  as  to  onanism  in  the  boarding-schools  to  which  they 
were  sent  elicited  somewhat  contradictory  answers  concerning  the  fre- 
quency of  the  habit.     Dr.  ,  who  went  to  a  French  school,  told  me 

that  all  the  older  boys  had  younger  accomplices  in  mutual  masturbation. 
He  also  spoke  with  experience  of  the  prevalence  of  the  practice  in  a 
well-known  public  school  in  the  Avest  of  England.  B.  said  all  the  boys 
at  his  school  masturbated;  G.  stated  that  7nost  of  his  schoolmates  were 
onanists;    L.  said  'more  than  half  was  the  proportion. 

"At  my  school  manual  masturbation  was  both  solitary  and  mutual; 
and  sometimes  younger  boys,  who  had  not  acquired  the  habit,  were  in- 
duced to  manipulate  bigger  boys.  One  very  precocious  boy  of  fifteen 
always  chose  a  companion  of  ten  'because  his  hand  was  like  a  woman's.' 
Sometimes  boys  entered  their  friend's  bed  for  mutual  excitement.  In 
after-life  they  showed  no  signs  of  inversion.  Another  boy,  aged  about 
14,  who  had  been  seduced  by  a  servant-girl,  embraced  the  bolster;  the 
pleasurable  sensations,  according  to  his  statement,  were  heightened  by 
imagining  that  the  bolster  was  a  woman.  He  said  that  the  enjoyment 
of  the  act  was  greatly  increased  during  the  holidays,  when  he  was 
able  to  spread  a  pair  of  his  sister's  drawers  upon  the  pillow,  and  so  in- 
tensify the  illusion. 

"Before  puberty  the  boys  appeared  to  be  more  continent  than  after- 
ward. A  few  of  the  older  and  more  intelligent  masturbators  regulated 
the  habit,  as  some  married  men  regulate  intercourse.  The  big  boy  re- 
ferred to,  who  chose  always  the  same  manipulator,  professed  to  indulge 
only  once  in  twenty  days,  his  reason  being  that  more  frequent  repetition 
of  the  act  would  injure  his  health.  About  twice  a  week  for  boj's  who  had 
reached  puberty,  and  once  a  week  for  younger  boys,  was,  I  think,  about 
the   average   indulgence.     I   have   never  met   with   a    parallel   of  one   of 


170  •  PSYCHOLOGY   OF    SEX. 

those  cases  of  excessive  masturbation  recorded  by  many  doctors.  There 
may  have  been  such  cases  at  this  school:  but,  if  so,  the  boys  concealed 
the  frequency  of  their  gratifications. 

"My  experience  proved  that  many  of  the  lads  regarded  masturba- 
tion as  reprehensible:  but  their  plea  was  'everyone  does  it.'  Some,  often 
those  who  indulged  inordinatelv  and  more  secretlv  than  their  com- 
panions,  gravely  condemned  the  practice  as  sinful.  A  few  seemed  to 
think  there  was  'no  harm  in  it';  but  that  the  habit  might  stunt  the 
growth  and  weaken  the  body  if  practiced  very  frequently.  The  greater 
number  made  no  attempt  to  conceal  the  habit,  they  enlarged  upon  the 
pleasure  of  it:    it  was  'ever  so  much  nicer  than  eating  tarts,'  etc. 

"The  chief  cause  I  believe  to  be  initiation  by  an  older  schoolmate. 
But  I  have  known  accidental  causes,  such  as  the  discovery  that  swarm- 
ing up  a  pole  pleasurably  excited  the  organ,  rubbing  to  allay  irritation, 
and  simple  curious  handling  of  the  erect  penis  in  the  early  morning 
before  rising  from  bed." 

I  quote  the  foregoing  communication  as  probably  a  fairly  typical 
experience  in  a  British  school,  though  I  am  myself  inclined  to  think 
that  the  prevalence  of  masturbation  in  schools  is  often  much  overrated, 
for  while  in  some  schools  the  practice  is  doubtless  rampant,  in  others  it 
is  practically  unknown,  or  at  all  events  only  practiced  by  a  few  indi- 
viduals in  secret.  My  own  early  recollections  of  (private)  school-life  fail 
to  yield  any  reminiscences  of  any  kind  connected  with  either  masturba- 
tion or  homosexuality;  and,  while  such  happy  ignorance  may  be  the  ex- 
ception rather  than  the  rule,  I  am  certainly  inclined  to  believe  that — 
owing  to  race  and  climate  and  healthier  conditions  of  life — the  sexual  im- 
pulse is  less  precocious  and  less  prominently  developed  during  the  school- 
age  in  England  than  In  some  Continental  countries.  It  is  probably  to  this 
delayed  development  that  Ave  should  attribute  the  contrast  that  Ferrero 
finds  ("L'Europa  Giovane,"  pp.  151-5G),  and  certainly  states  too  abso- 
lutely, between  the  sexual  reserve  of  young  Englishmen  and  tlie  sexual 
immodesty  of  his  own  countrymen. 

Tn  Germany  Xjicke  has  also  recently  stated  ("Kritisches  zum 
Kapitel  dcr  Sexualitat,"  Archiv  fiir  Psychiatric,  pp.  354-50,  189!))  that 
he  heard  nothing  at  school  either  of  masturbation  or  homosexuality, 
and  he  records  the  experience  of  medical  friends  who  stated  that  such 
phenomena  were  only  rare  exceptions,  and  regarded  by  the  majority  of 
the  boys  as  exhibitions  of  "Schireinn'H."  At  other  German  schools,  as 
Hoche  has  shown,  llie  phenomena  are  very  j)rcvaUMit.  Tt  is  evident  that 
at  different  schools,  and  e\  on  at  the  same  school  at  different  times,  these 
manifestations  vary  in  frequency  within  wide  limits. 

Such  variations,  it  seems  to  me,  are  due  to  two  causes.  Tn  the 
first  place,  they  largely  depend  upon  the  character  of  the  more  influ- 
ential elder  boys.     Tn  the  second  place,  they  depend  upon  tlie  attitude 


AUTO-EROTISM.  171 

of  the  head-master.  With  reference  to  this  point  I  may  quote  from  a 
letter    ^\ritten    by   an   experienced    master    in    one    of   the    most    famous 

English    public   sciiools:     "When   I   first    came   to   ,   a   quarter   of   a 

century  a^o,  Dr.  was  making  a  crusade  against  this  failing;    boys 

"Nvere  sent  away  wholesale;  the  school  was  summoned  and  lectured 
solemnly;  and  the  more  the  severities,  the  more  rampant  the  disease. 
I  thought  to  myself  that  the  remedy  was  creating  the  malady,  and  I 
heard  afterward  from  an  old  boy  that  in  those  days  they  used  to  talk 
things  over   by   the   fireside,   and   think   there   must  be  something  very 

choice  in  a  sin  that  braved  so  much.     Dr.  went,  and  under  

we  never  spoke  of  such  things.  Curiosity  died  down,  and  the  thing  itself, 
I  believe,  was  lessened.  We  were  told  to  warn  new  boys  of  the  dangers 
to  health  and  morals  of  such  offences,  lest  the  innocent  should  be  caught 
in  ignorance.  I  have  only  spoken  to  a  few;  I  think  the  great  thing 
is  not  to  put  it  in  boys'  heads.  I  have  noticed  solitary  faults  most 
commonly,  and  then  I  tell  the  boy  how  he  is  physically  weakening  him- 
self. If  you  notice,  it  is  puppies  that  seem  to  go  against  Xature,  but 
grown  dogs  never.  So  if  two  small  boys  acted  thus  I  should  think  it 
merely  an  instinctive  feeling  after  Nature  which  would  amend  itself. 
Many  here  would  consider  it  a  heinous  sin,  but  those  who  think  such 
things  sins  make  them  sins.  I  have  seen  in  the  old  days  most  delightful 
little  children  sent  away,  branded  with  infamy,  and  scarce  knowing  why 
— you  might  as  well  expel  a  boy  for  scratching  his  head  when  it  itched. 
I  am  sure  the  soundest  way  is  to  treat  it  as  a  doctor  w^ould,  and  explain 
to  the  boy  the  physical  effects  of  overindulgence  of  any  sort.  When  it 
is  combated  from  the  monkish  stand-point  the  evil  becomes  an  epidemic."^ 
I  am,  however,  far  from  anxious  to  indorse  the  policy  of  ignoring 
the  sexual  phenomena  of  youth.  It  is  not  the  speaking  about  such 
things  that  should  be  called  in  question,  but  the  wisdom  and  good  sense 
of  the  speaker.  We  ought  to  expect  a  head-master  to  possess  both  an 
adequate  acquaintance  with  the  nature  of  the  phenomena  of  auto-erotism 
and  homosexuality  and  a  reasonable  amount  of  tact  in  dealing  with 
boys;  he  may  then  fairly  be  trusted  to  exercise  his  own  judgment.  It 
may  be  doubted  whether  boys  should  be  made  too  alive  to  the  existence 
of  sexual  phenomena;    there  can  be  no  doubt  about  their  teachers.     The 


^  Xo  doubt  it  is  not  impossible  to  coerce  a  school  into  the  paths  of 
virtue.  Dr.  Hime,  formerly  head-master  of  Foyle  College,  Londonderry, 
claims  to  have  been  successful  by  this  method:  but.  ns  ho  admits,  it  is 
necessary  that  the  arrangements  of  the  school  should  be  largely  made 
witli  a  special  view  to  the  prevention  of  such  offences  (C.  W.  Hime, 
"Schoolboys'  Special  Immorality,"  1899).  Such  a  state  of  things  can 
scarcely  be  wholesome  nor  constitute  a  fitting  preparation  for  the  world. 
A  much  better  plan  is  the  introduction  of  the  healthy  association  of  the 
sexes  in   co-education. 


IT:^  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

same  is,  of  course,  true  as  regards  girls,  among  whom   the  same  phe- 
nomena, though  less  obtrusive,  are  not  less  liable  to  occur. 

As  to  whether  masturbation  is  more  common  in  one  sex  than 
the  other,  there  have  been  considerable  differences  of  opinion. 
Tissot  considered  it  more  prevalent  among  women;  Christian  be- 
lieves it  commoner  anions:  men:  Deslandes  held  that  there  are 
no  sexual  differences,  and  Gamier  is  doubtful.  Lawson  Tait,  in 
his  ''Diseases  of  Women/"  stated  his  opinion  that,  while  very 
common  among  boys,  it  is  relatively  rare  among  women,  and 
then  usually  taught.  Spitzka  also  finds  it  relatively  rare  among 
women,  and  Dana  considers  it  commoner  in  boys  than  in  girls 
or  adults.^  Moll  is  inclined  to  think  that  masturbation  is  less 
common  in  women  and  girls  than  in  the  male  sex.  Rohleder 
believes  that  after  puberty,  when  it  is  equally  common  in  both 
sexes,  it  is  more  frequently  found  in  men,  but  that  women  mas- 
turbate with  more  passion  and  imaginative  fervor.-  Sudduth 
says  it  is  equally  prevalent  in  both  sexes.  This  is  also  the  opinion 
of  Kellogg,  who  adds  that  women  are  more  secretive.  Morris 
considers,  on  the  other  hand,  that  persistent  masturbation  is 
commoner  in  women,  and  accounts  for  this  by  the  healthier  life 
and  traditions  of  boys.  Pouillet,  who  studied  the  matter  with 
considerable  thoroughness  in  France,  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  masturbation  is  commoner  among  women,  among  whom  he 
found  it  to  be  equally  prevalent  in  rich  and  poor,  and  especially 
so  in  the  irreat  centres  of  civilization.     Xacke.  in  Germanv,  con- 


'  This  is,  no  doubt,  the  most  common  o])inion.  and  it  is  froijuently 
repeated  in  text-books.  It  is  scarcely  necessary,  however,  to  point  out 
that  only  the  opinions  of  those  who  have  given  special  attention  to  the 
matter  can  carrv  any  weight.  R.  W.  Shuf«'ldt  (**0n  a  Case  of  Fomale 
Impotency."  pp.  5-7)  quotes  the  opinions  of  various  cautiou<  ob>:crv(rs 
as  to  the  difticulty  of  detecting  masturbation  in  women. 

-This  latter  opinion  is  confirmed  by  Xiicke  so  far  as  the  insane  are 
concerned.  In  a  careful  study  of  sexual  perversity  in  a  large  asylum, 
Niicke  found  that,  while  moderate  masturbation  could  be  more  easily 
traced  among  men  than  among  women,  excessive  masturbation  was 
more  common  aiiKing  women.  And.  while  among  the  men  masturbation 
was  most  frequent  in  tbe  lowest  grades  of  mental  development  (idiocy 
and  imbecility)  and  least  freiiuent  in  the  highest  grades  (general  pa- 
ralysis), in  the  women  it  was  the  reverse.  (P.  Xiicke,  "Die  Sexuellen  Per- 
versitaten  in  der  Irrenanstalt."  Psvchiatrische  en   Xcurologische  Bladen, 

Xo.  •_>.  moo.i 


AUTO-EKOTISM.  173 

siders  that  there  is  much  evidence  pointing  in  the  same  direction. 
Moraglia,  also,  is  decidedly  of  the  opinion,  on  the  ground  of  his 
own  observations  already  alluded  to,  that  masturbation  is  more 
frequent  among  women;  he  refers  to  the  fact — a  very  significant 
fact,  as  I  shall  elsewhere  have  to  point  out — that,  while  in  man 
there  is  only  one  sexual  centre,  the  penis,  in  woman  there  are 
several  centres, — the  clitoris,  the  vagina,  the  uterus,  the  breasts,^ 
— and  he  mentions  that  he  knew  a  prostitute,  a  well-developed 
brunette  of  somewhat  nervous  temperament,  who  boasted  that 
she  knew  fourteen  ways  of  masturbating  herself. 

My  own  opinion  is  that  the  question  of  the  sexual  distribu- 
tion of  masturbation  has  been  somewhat  obscured  by  that  harm- 
ful tendency,  to  which  I  have  already  alluded,  to  concentrate 
attention  on  a  particular  set  of  auto-erotic  phenomena.  We  must 
group  and  divide  our  facts  rationally  if  we  wish  to  command 
them.  If  we  confine  our  attention  to  very  young  children,  the 
available  evidence  shows  that  the  practice  is  much  more  common 
in  females,^  and  such  a  result  is  in  harmony  with  the  fact  that 
precocious  puberty  is  most  often  found  in  female  children.^  At 
puberty  and  adolescence  occasional  or  frequent  masturbation  is 
very  common  in  both  boys  and  girls,  though,  I  believe,  less  com- 
mon than  is  sometimes  supposed;  it  is  difficult  to  say  whether  it 
is  more  prevalent  among  boys  or  girls;  one  would  be  inclined 
to  conclude  that  it  prevails  chiefly  among  boys,  if  it  were  not  for 
the  fact  that  boys'  traditions  and  their  more  active  life  keep  the 
tendency  in  abeyance,  w^hile  in  girls  there  is  much  less  frequently 


^Mammary  masturbation  sometimes  occurs;  see,  e.().,  Rohleder, 
"Die  Masturbation"  (pp.  32-33)  ;  it  is,  however,  rare,  and  I  have  never 
met  with  it  in  an  auto-erotic  form. 

-  Hirschsprung  pointed  out  this,  indeed,  fifteen  years  ago,  on  the 
ground  of  his  own  experience.     And  see  Rohleder,  pp.  44-47. 

^  In  many  cases,  of  course,  the  physical  precocity  is  associated  with 
precocity  in  sexual  habits.  An  instructive  case  is  reported  (Alienist  and 
Xeurologist.  October.  1895)  of  a  girl  of  7.  a  beautiful  child  of  healthy 
family,  and  very  intelligent,  who  from  the  age  of  3  was  perpetually 
masturbating  wlien  not  watched.  The  clitoris  and  mons  veneris  were 
those  of  a  fully-grown  woman,  and  the  child  was  as  well  infonned  upon 
most  subjects  as  an  average  woman.  She  was  cured  by  care  and  hygienic 
attention,  and  when  seen  last  Avas  in  excellent  condition. 


174  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

» 

an}'  restraining  influence  of  corresponding  character.^  In  my 
study  of  inversion  I  have  found  that  ignorance  and  the  same  ab- 
sence of  tradition  are  probably  factors  in  the  prevalence  of  homo- 
sexual tendencies  among  women.-  After  adolescence  I  think 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  masturbation  is  more  common  in 
women  than  in  men.  Men  have,  by  this  time,  mostly  adopted 
some  method  of  sexual  gratification  with  the  opposite  sex;  women 
are  to  a  much  larger  extent  shut  out  from  such  gratification; 
moreover,  while  in  rare  cases  women  are  sexually  precocious,  it 
more  often  happens  that  their  sexual  impulses  only  gain  strength 
and  self-consciousness  after  adolescence  has  passed.  I  have  been 
much  impressed  by  the  frequency  with  which  masturbation  is 
occasionally  (especially  about  the  period  of  menstruation)  prac- 
ticed by  active,  intelligent,  and  healthy  women,  who  otherwise 
lead  a  chaste  life.  This  experience  is  confirmed  by  others,  who 
are  in  a  position  to  ascertain  the  facts  among  normal  people; 
thus  a  lady,  who  has  received  the  confidence  of  many  women,  told 
me  that  she  believes  that  all  women,  who  remain  unmarried, 
masturbate,  as  she  found  so  much  evidence  pointing  in  this  direc- 
tion.^ This  statement  certainly  needs  some  qualification,  though 
I  believe  it  is  not  far  from  the  truth  as  regards  young  and 
healthy  women  who,  after  having  normal  sexual  relationships, 
have  been  compelled  for  some  reason  or  other  to  break  them  off 
and  lead  a  lonely  life.  But  we  have  to  remember  that  there  are 
some  women,  evidently  with  a  considerable  degree  of  congenital 


^  R.  T.  Morris,  of  New  York,  has  also  pointed  out  tlio  infliuMicc  of 
traditions  in  this  respect.  "Among  boys,"  he  remarks,  "there  are  tradi- 
tions to  the  eftect  that  self-abuse  is  harmful,  so  that  about  the  only 
boys  wlio  injure  themselves  badly  by  masturbation  are  the  ones  whose 
parents  keep  them  away  from  other  boys,  for  fear  that  they  may  learn 
bad  habits,  and  the  boys  who  live  in  thinly-settled  country-districts. 
Among  the  girls,  however,  there  are  no  such  saving  traditions,  and  when 
preputial  adliesions  call  the  girl's  attention  to  the  clitoris,  she  may 
become  a  ])ersistent  masturbator."  I  quote  this  jiassage  because  I  think 
it  attributes  somewhat  too  large  a  part  to  tradition,  which  is  by  no 
means  the  only  restraining  influence. 

-II.  l':ilis,  "Studies  in  the  Psvchologv  of  Sex,"  volume  i,  "Sexual 
Inversion,"   (  ha])ter   IV. 

^  It  will  be  possible  to  give  greater  precision  to  the  foregoing  state- 
ments when,  in  a  subsequent  volume  of  these  "Studies,"  I  proceed  to 
analyze  the  sexual  histories  of  normal   jiei'^ons. 


AUTO-EKOTISM,  175 

sexual  anesthesia  (no  doubt,  in  some  respect  or  another  below  the 
standard  of  normal  health),  in  whom  the  sexual  instinct  has  never 
been  aroused,  and  who  not  only  do  not  masturbate,  but  do  not 
show  any  desire  for  normal  gratification;  while  in  a  large  pro- 
portion of  other  cases  the  impulse  is  gratitied  passively  in  ways 
I  have  already  referred  to.  The  auto-erotic  phenomena  which 
take  place  in  this  way,  spontaneously,  by  yielding  to  revery,  with 
little  or  no  active  interference,  certainly  occur  much  more  fre- 
quently in  women  than  in  men.  On  the  other  hand,  contrary  to 
what  one  might  be  led  to  expect,  the  closely-related  auto-erotic 
phenomena  during  sleep  seem  to  take  place  more  frequently  in 
men,  although  in  women,  as  we  have  found  ground  for  conclud- 
ing, they  reverberate  much  more  widely  and  impressively  on  the 
waking  psychical  life. 

We  must  now  turn  to  that  aspect  of  our  subject  which  in 
the  past  has  always  seemed  the  only  aspect  of  auto-erotic  phe- 
nomena meriting  attention:  the  symptoms  and  results  of  mas- 
turbation. It  appears  to  have  been  an  Englishman  w^ho,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  first  called  attention  to  the 
supposed  evils  of  masturbation.  His  book  was  published  in  Lon- 
don, and  entitled:  "Onania,  or  the  Heinous  Sin  of  Self-pollu- 
tion, and  all  its  Frightful  Consequences  in  both  Sexes,  Consid- 
ered, wdth  Spiritual  and  Physical  Advice,'^  etc.  It  is  not  a  serious 
medical  treatise,  but  an  early  and  certainly  superior  example  of  a 
kind  of  literature  which  we  have  since  become  familiar  with  in 
all  the  daily  newspapers.  A  large  part  of  the  book,  which  is 
cleverly  written,  is  devoted  in  the  later  editions  to  the  letters  of 
nervous  and  hypochondriacal  young  men  and  women,  who  are 
too  shy  to  visit  the  author,  but  request  him  to  send  a  bottle  of 
his  "Strengthening  Tincture,"  and  mention  that  they  are  inclos- 
ing half  a  guinea,  a  guinea,  or  still  larger  sum.  Concerning  the 
composition  of  the  "Strengthening  Tincture"  w^e  are  not  in- 
formed.^    This  Avork,  which  was  subsequently  attributed  to  a 


^  It  may,  however,  be  mstructive  to  observe  that  at  the  end  of  the 
volume  we  find  an  advertisement  of  "Dr.  Robinson's  treatise  on  the 
Virtues  and  Efficacy  of  a  Crust  of  Bread,  Eat  Early  in  the  Morning  Fast- 
ing." 


1T6  PSYCHOLOGY    OJF    SEX. 

writer  named  Bekkers  (who  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  ^"'Dictionary 
of  National  Biography"")  is  said  to  have  passed  through  no  less 
than  eighty  editions,  and  it  was  translated  into  German.  Tissot, 
a  physician  of  Launsanne,  followed  with  his  "Traite  de  I'Onan- 
isme:  Dissertation  sur  les  Maladies  produites  par  la  Masturba- 
tion/' first  published  in  Latin  (1?60),  then  in  French  (1T64), 
and  afterward  in  nearly  all  European  languages.  He  regarded 
masturbation  as  a  crime,  and  as  "an  act  of  suicide."  His  book 
is  a  production  full  of  amusing  exaggeration  and  rhetoric,  zeal- 
ously setting  forth  the  prodigious  evils  of  masturbation  in  a 
style  which  combines,  as  Christian  remarks,  the  strains  of  Eous- 
S€au  with  a  vein  of  religious  piety.  Tissot  included  only  manual 
self -abuse  under  the  term,  '"onanism'";  shortly  afterward,  Vol- 
taire, in  his  "Dictionnaire  Philosophique,"  took  up  the  subject, 
giving  it  a  wider  meaning  and  still  further  popularizing  it. 
Finally  Lallemand,  at  a  somewhat  later  period  (183G),  wrote  a 
book  which  was,  indeed,  more  scientific  in  character,  but  which 
still  sought  to  represent  masturbation  as  the  source  of  all  evils. 
These  four  writers — the  author  of  ^'Onania,"'  Tissot,  Voltaire, 
Lallemand — are  certainly  responsible  for  much.  The  mistaken 
notions  of  many  medical  authorities,  carried  on  by  tradition,  even 
down  to  our  own  time;  the  powerful  lever  which  has  been  put 
into  the  hand  of  unscrupulous  quacks;  the  suffering,  dread,  and 
remorse  experienced  in  silence  by  many,  thousands  of  ignorant 
and  often  innocent  young  people,  may  all  be  traced,  in  large 
measure,  back  to  these  four  well-meaning,  but  (on  this  question) 
misguided,  authors. 

There  is  really  no  end  to  the  list  of  real  or  supposed  S3rmp- 
toms  and  results  of  masturbation,  as  given  by  various  medical 
writers  during  the  present  century.  Insanity,  epilepsy,  numer- 
ous forms  of  eye  disease,  supra-orbital  headache,  occipital  head- 
ache (Spitzka),  strange  sensations  at  the  top  of  the  head  (Savage), 
various  forms  of  neuralgia  (Anstie,  J.  Chajnnan),  tenderness  of  the 
skin  in  the  lower  dorsal  region  (Chapman),  mammary  tenderness 
(Lacassagne),  asthma  (Peyer),  the  appearance  of  vesicles  on 
wounds  (Bararliic),  acne  and  otlicr  forms  of  cutaneous  eruptions 
(the  author  of  "Onania,"  Clipson),  dilated  pupils  (Skene,  Lewis, 


AUTO-EROTISM.  177 

Moraglia),  eyes  directed  upward  and  sideways  (Poiiillet),  dark 
rings  around  tlie  eyes,  painful  menstruation  (J.  Chapman),  ca- 
tarrh of  uterus  and  vagina  (Winckel,  Pouillet),  hypertrophied 
sexual  organs,  pale  and  discolored  skin  (Lewis,  Moraglia),  red- 
ness of  nose  (Gruner),  epistaxis  (Joal,  J.  N.  Mackenzie),  morbid 
changes  in  nose  (Fliess),  convulsive  cough  of  puberty  (Gowers), 
acidity  of  vagina  (li.  W.  Shufeldt),  incontinence  of  urine  in  young 
women  (Girandeau),  warts  on  the  hands  in  women  (Durr,  Kriech- 
mar,  von  Oye),  hallucinations  of  smell,  hallucinations  of  hearing 
(Griesinger,  Lewis),  a  statuesque  bearing,  indican  in  the  urine 
(Herter),  an  indescribable  odor  of  the  skin  in  women  (Skene), 
these  are  but  a  few  of  the  signs  and  consequences  of  masturbation 
given  by  various  prominent  authorities.^ 

That  many  of  these  manifestations  do  occur  in  connection 
with  masturbation  is  unquestionable;  there  is  also  good  reason 
to  believe  that  some  of  them  mav  be  the  results  of  masturba- 
tion  acting  on  an  imperfectly  healthy  organism.  But  in  all 
such  cases  we  must  speak  with  great  caution,  for  there  appears 
to  be  little  reliable  evidence  to  show  that  simple  masturbation, 
in  a  well-born  and  healthy  individual,  can  produce  any  evil  re- 
sults beyond  slight  functional  disturbances,  and  these  only  when 
it  is  practiced  in  excess.  To  illustrate  the  real  pathological  re- 
lationships of  masturbation,  a  few  typical  and  important  disorders 
may  be  briefly  considered. 

The  delicate  mechanism  of  the  eye  is  one  of  the  first  portions 
of  the  nervous  apparatus  to  be  disturbed  by  any  undue  strain 
on  the  system;  it  is  not  surprising  that  masturbation  should  be 
widely  incriminated  as  a  cause  of  eye  troubles.  If,  however,  we 
inquire  into  the  results  obtained  by  the  most  cautious  and  ex- 
perienced ophthalmological  observers,  it  grows  evident  that  mas- 
turbation, as  a  cause  of  disease  of  the  eve,  becomes  mera^ed  into 
wider  causes.  In  Germany,  Hermann  Cohn,  the  distinguished 
ophthalmic  surgeon  of  Breslau,  has  dealt  fully  with  the  ques- 


^  Pouillet  alone  enumerates  and  apparently  accepts  considerably  over 
one  hundred  different  morbid  conditions  as  signs  and  results  of  mastur- 
bation. 

12 


176  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

±ion.^  Cohn,  who  believes  that  all  young  men  and  women  mas- 
turbate to  some  extent,  finds  that  masturbation  must  be  excessive 
for  eye  trouble  to  become  apparent.  In  most  of  his  cases  there 
was  masturbation  several  times  daily  during  from  five  to  seven 
years,  in  many  during  ten  years,  and  in  one  during  twenty-three 
years.  In  such  cases  we  are  obviously  dealing  with  abnormal  per- 
sons, and  no  one  will  dispute  the  possibility  of  harmful  results; 
in  some  of  the  cases,  when  masturbation  was  stopped,  the  eye 
trouble  improved.  Even  in  these  cases,  however,  the  troubles 
were  but  slight,  the  chief  being,  apparently,  photopsia  (a  sub- 
jective sensation  of  light),  with  otherwise  normal  conditions  of 
pupil,  vision,  color-sense,  and  retina.  In  some  cases  there  was 
photophobia,  and  he  has  also  foimd  paralysis  of  accommodation 
and  conjunctivitis.  At  a  later  date  Salmo  Cohn,  in  his  compre- 
hensive monograph  on  the  relationship  between  the  eye  and  the 
sexual  organs  in  women,  brought  together  numerous  cases  of  eye 
troubles  in  young  women  associated  with  masturbation,  but  in 
most  of  these  cases  masturbation  had  been  practiced  with  great 
frequency  for  a  long  period  and  the  ocular  affections  were  usu- 
ally not  serious.-  In  England,  Power  has  investigated  the  rela- 
tions of  the  sexual  system  to  eye  disease.  He  is  inclined  to  think 
that  the  effects  of  masturbation  have  been  exaggerated,  but  he 
believes  that  it  may  produce  such  for  the  most  part  trivial  com- 
plaints as  photopsiae,  muscae,  muscular  asthenopia,  possibly  ble- 
pharospasm, and  perhaps  conjunctivitis.  He  goes  on,  howevci-, 
to  point  out  that  more  serious  complaints  of  the  eye  are  caused 
])y  excess  in  normal  coitus,  by  sexual  abstinence,  and  especially 
by  disordered  menstruation.  Thus  we  see  that  even  when  we 
are  considering  a  mechanism  so  delicately  poised  and  one  so  easily 
disturbed  by  any  jar  of  the  system  as  vision,  masturbation  pro- 
duces no  effect  except  wlicn  carried  to  an  extent  which  argues  an 
hereditarily  imperfect  organism,  while  even  in  these  cases  the 
efTof-ts  are  usually  but  slight;    are,  nioreovei'.  in  no  respect  spe- 


'  "Aii^'onkianklioiten  bei  Masturbanten,"'  Knapp-Schweigger's  Archiv 
fill-  Au;:('nlicilkuTi(lr,  ^^.   11.   1SS2,  p.   108. 

^"<alI^(>  Cohn,  "Uterus  unci  Auge,'  1890.  pp.  C3-G0. 


AUTO-EROTISM.  179 

cific;  but  arc  ])nrallelcd  and  even  exceeded  by  the  results  of  other 
disturbances  of  the  sexual  system. 

Let  us  turn  to  the  supposed  influence  of  masturbation  in 
causing  insanity  and  nervous  diseases.  Here  we  may  chiefly 
realize  the  immense  influence  exerted  on  medical  science  by 
Tissot  and  his  followers  during  a  hundred  years.  Sir  William 
Ellis,  an  alienist  of  considerable  reputation  at  the  beginning  of 
the  present  century,  could  write  with  scientiflc  equanimity:  "I 
have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that,  in  a  very  large  number  of  pa- 
tients in  all  public  asylums,  the  disease  may  be  attributed  to  that 
cause."  He  does,  indeed,  admit  that  it  may  be  only  a  symptom 
sometimes,  but  goes  on  to  assert  that  masturbation  "has  not 
hitherto  been  exhibited  in  the  awful  light  in  which  it  deserves 
to  be  shown,"  and  that  "in  by  far  the  greater  number  of  cases" 
it  is  the  true  cause  of  dementia.^  Esquirol  lent  his  name  and 
influence  to  a  similar  view  of  the  pernicious  influence  of  mas- 
turbation. ThroiTghout  the  century,  even  down  to  the  present 
day,  this  point  of  view  has  been  traditionally  preserved  in  a  modi- 
fied form.  In  apparent  ignorance  of  the  enormous  prevalence  of 
masturbation,  and  without,  so  far  as  can  be  seen,  any  attempt 
to  distinguish  between  cause  and  effect  or  to  eliminate  the  hered- 
itary neuropathic  element,  many  alienists  have  set  down  a  large 
proportion  of  cases  of  insanity,  idiocy,  epilepsy,  and  diseases  of 
the  spinal  cord  to  uncomplicated  masturbation.  Thus,  at  the 
Matteawan  State  Hospital  (New  York)  for  criminal  lunatics  and 
insane  prisoners,  from  1875  to  1897,  masturbation  was  the  sole 
assigned  cause  of  insanity  in  120  men  (out  of  1630),  and  was  con- 
nected with  various  causes  in  numerous  other  cases;  while,  ac- 
cording to  Dr.  Clara  Barrus,  among  121  cases  of  insanity  in  young 
women,  masturbation  is  the  cause  in  ten  cases. ^  It  is  unneces- 
sary to  multiply  examples,  for  this  traditional  tendency  is  familiar 
to  all. 

It  appears  to  have  been  largely  due  to  the  genius  of  Grie- 
singer,  in  the  middle  of  the  present  century,  that  we  owe  the 


^  W.  Ellis.  "Treatise  on  Insanity,"  1838.  pp.  335.  340. 
^  Clara  Barrus,  "Insanity  in  Young  Women,"  Journal  of  Nervous 
and  Mental  Disease,  June.   1896. 


180  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

first  authoritative  appearance  of  a  saner,  more  discriminating 
view  regarding  the  results  of  masturbation.^  Although  still  to 
some  extent  fettered  by  the  traditions  prevalent  in  his  day,  Grie- 
singer  saw  that  it  was  not  so  much  masturbation  itself  as  the 
feelings  aroused  in  sensitive  minds  by  the  social  attitude  toward 
masturbation  which  produced  evil  effects.  "That  constant  strug- 
gle/^ he  wrote,  •'against  a  desire  which  is  even  overpowering,  and 
to  which  the  individual  always  in  the  end  succumbs,  that  hidden 
strife  between  shame,  repentance,  good  intentions,  and  the  irri- 
tation which  impels  to  the  act,  this,  after  not  a  little  acquaintance 
with  onanists,  we  consider  to  be  far  more  important  than  the  pri- 
mary direct  physical  effect."  He  added  that  there  are  no  specific 
signs  of  masturbation,  and  concluded  that  it  is  oftener  a  symp- 
tom than  a  cause.  The  general  progress  of  educated  opinions 
since  that  date  has,  in  the  main,  confirmed  and  carried  forward 
the  results  cautiously  stated  by  Griesinger.  This  distinguished 
alienist  thought  that,  when  practiced  in  childhood,  masturbation 
might  lead  to  insanity.  Berkhan,  in  his  investigation  of  the 
psychoses  of  childhood,  found  that  in  no  single  case  was  mas- 
turbation a  cause.  Vosfel,  Uffelmann,  and  Emmins^haus,  in  the 
course  of  similar  studies,  have  all  come  to  almost  similar  con- 
clusions.- It  is  only  on  a  congenitally  morbid  nervous  system, 
Emminghaus  insists,  that  masturbation  can  produce  any  serious 
results.  "Most  of  the  cases  charged  to  masturbation,"  writes 
Kiernan  (in  a  private  letter),  basing  his  opinion  on  wide  clinical 
experience,  "are  either  hebephrenia  or  hysteria  in  which  an  effect 
is  taken  for  the  cause."  Christian,  during  twenty  years'  experi- 
ence in  hospitals,  asylums,  and  private  practice  in  town  and 
count rv,  hns  not  f(unul  anv  seriouslv  evil  effects  from  masturba- 


'  A  friend  tolls  nic  that  Sir  Everard  Home  (who  was  iindor  the  in- 
lluence  of  John  Iluntor  and  used  his  manuscripts)  states  in  one  of  his 
<urfjical  works  that  occasional  masturbation,  about  the  ajje  of  puberty, 
may  be  physically  beneficial  rather  than  otherwise;  but  I  have  not  seen 
the  passage. 

•  See,  for  instance.  H.  Emminghaus,  "Die  Psychosen  des  Kindesal- 
lers."  "Gerlandt's  TTandbuch  dor  Kinder-Kranklioiten."  \achtrng  TT.  pp. 
01-03. 


AUTO-EROTISM.  181 

tion.^     He  thinks,  indeed,  that  it  mav  be  a  more  serious  evil  in 
women  than  in  men.     But  Yellowlees  considers  that  in  women 
"it  is  possibly  less  exhausting  and  injurious  than  in  the  other 
sex";   and  Xiicke,  who  has  given  special  attention  to  this  point, 
could  not  find  that  masturbation  is  a  definite  cause  of  insanity 
in  women  in  a  single  case.-    Koch  also  reaches  a  similar  conclu- 
sion, as  reo:ards  both  sexes,  thousrh  he  admits  that  masturbation 
may  cause  some  degree  of  psychopathic  deterioration.     Even  in 
this  respect,  however,  he  points  out  that  "when' practiced  in  mod- 
eration it  is  not  injurious  in  the  certain  and  exceptionless  way 
in  which  it  is  believed  to  be  in  many  circles.     It  is  the  people 
whose  nervous  systems  are  already  injured  who  masturbate  most 
easily  and  practice  it  more  immoderately  than  others'";  the  chief 
source  of  its  evil  is  self-reproach  and  the  struggle  with  the  im- 
pulse.^    Kahlbaum,  it  is  true,  under  the  influence  of  the  older 
tradition,  when  thirty  years  ago  he  erected  katatonia  into  a  sep- 
arate disorder  (not  always  accepted  in  later  times),  regarded  pro- 
longed and  excessive  masturbation  as  a  chief  cause,  but  I  am  not 
aware  that  he  ever  asserted  that  it  was  a  sole  and  sufficient  cause 
in  a  healthy  organism.     Kiernan,  one  of  the  earliest  writers  on 
katatonia,  was  careful  to  point  out  that  masturbation  was  prob- 
ably as  much  effect  as  cause  of  the  morbid  nervous  condition.* 
Maudsley  (in  "'Body  and  Mind")  recognizes  masturbation  as  a 
special  exciting  cause  of  a  characteristic  form  of  insanity;    but 
he  is  careful  to  add:    "Nevertheless,  I  think  that  self-abuse  sel- 
dom, if  €ver,  produces  it  without  the  co-operation  of  the  insane 
neurosis."     Schtile  also  recognized  a  specific  masturbatory  in- 
sanity, but  the  general  tendency  to  reject  any  such  nosological 
form  is  becoming  marked;   Krafft-Ebing  has  long  since  rejected 
it  and  Xiicke  decidedly  opposes  it.    It  is  true  that  Marro,  in  his 
recently  published  admirable  and  detailed  study  of  the  normal 
and  abnormal  aspects  of  ptiberty,  accepts  a  form  of  masturbatory 


^  Christian,  article  "Onanisme,"  "Dictionnaire  encyclopedique  des 
sciences  niedicales.** 

-  Niicke,  "Verbrechen  und  Wahnsinn  beim  Weibe."  1894.  p.  57. 

^J.  L.  A.  Koch,  "Die  Psychopathischen  Minderwertigkeiten,"  1892. 
p.  273  et  seq. 

*  J.  G.  Kiernan,  American  Journal  of  Insanity.  Julv.  1877. 


182  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

insanity;  but  the  only  ilhistrative  case  he  brings  forward  is  a 
young  man  possessing  various  stigmata  of  degeneracy  and  the 
son  of  an  alcoholic  father;  such  a  case  tells  us  nothing  regard- 
ing the  results  of  simple  masturbation.^  Even  Spitzka,  who 
maintained  several  years  ago  the  traditional  views  as  to  the 
terrible  results  of  masturbation,  and  recognized  a  special  ''in- 
sanity of  masturbation/^  stated  his  conclusions  with  a  caution 
that  undermined  his  position:  "Self-abuse/'^  he  concluded,  '"to 
become  a  sole  cause  of  insanity,  must  be  begun  early  and  carried 
very  far.  In  persons  of  sound  antecedents  it  rarely,  under  these 
circumstances,  suffices  to  produce  an  actual  vesania.^'-  Wlien 
we  remember  that  there  is  no  convincing  evidence  to  show 
that  masturbation  is  "begun  early  and  carried  very  far"  by  "per- 
sons of  sound  antecedents,'^  the  significance  of  Spitzka's  "typical 
psychosis  of  masturbation"  is  somewhat  annulled.  It  is  evident 
that  these  distinguished  investigators,  Marro  and  Spitzka,  have 
been  induced  by  tradition  to  take  up  a  position  which  Iheir  own 
scientific  consciences  have  compelled  them  practically  to  evacuate. 

The  more  recent  autlioiities  are  almost  unanimous  in  rejecting 
masturbation  as  a  cause  of  insanity. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  Rohleder,  in  his  recent  comprehensive  mono- 
graph ("Die  Masturbation,"  1899,  pp.  185-92),  although  taking  a  very 
serious  view  of  the  evil  results  of  masturbation,  points  out  tlio  unanim- 
ity which  is  now  tending  to  prevail  on  this  point,  and  lays  it  down 
that  "masturbation  is  never  the  direct  cause  of  insanity."  Sexual  ex- 
cesses of  any  kind,  ho  adds  (following  Curschmann),  can,  at  the  most, 
merely  give  an  impetus  to  a  latent  form  of  insanity.  On  tlic  whole,  he 
concludes,  the  best  authorities  are  unanimous  in  agreeing  that  mastur- 
bation may  certainly  injure  mental  capacity  by  weakening  memory  and 
depressing  intellectual  energy;  that,  further,  in  hereditarily  neurotic 
subjects,  it  may  produce  slight  psychoses  like  folie  ilu  doutc,  hypo- 
chondria, hysteria;  that,  finally,  under  no  circumstances  cmti  it  ])roduce 
severe  psj'choses  like  paranoia  or  general  paralysis.  The  more  moderate 
view  now  tending  to  prevail  may  also  be  illustrated  from  a  book  which 
has  been  widely  accepted  as  an  adequate  summary  of  modern  doctrines 
of   insanity.     "If  it   caused    insanity   as   often   as   some   claim,"   Kellogg 


'Marro.  "La  PubertA,"  Turin,  1898.  p.  174. 

^  K.  C.  Spil/.ka.  "Cases  of  Masturbation."  Journal  of  "Mental  Science, 
July,  18SS. 


AUTO-EROTISM.  183 

states,  "the  whole  race  would  long  since  have  passed  into  masturbatic 
degeneracy  of  mind.  .  .  .  It  is  especially  injurious  in  the  very  young 
and  in  all  who  have  weak  nervous  systems,"  but  "the  physical  traits 
attributed  to  the  habit  are  common  to  thousands  of  neurasthenic  and 
neurotic  individuals."  (Kellogg,  "A  Text-book  of  Mental  Diseases," 
1897,  pp.  94-95.)  Again,  at  the  outset  of  the  article  on  "Masturbation" 
in  Tuke's  "Dictionary  of  Psychological  Medicine,"  Yellowlees  states 
that,  on  account  of  the  mischief  formerly  done  by  reckless  statements, 
it  is  necessary  to  state  plainly  that  "unless  the  practice  has  been  long 
and  greatly  indulged,  no  permanent  evil  effects  may  be  observed  to  fol- 
low." Nil  eke,  again,  has  recently  declared  ("Kritisches  zum  Kapitel  der 
Sexualitiit,"  Archir  fiir  Psychiatrie,  1899)  :  "There  are  neither  somatic 
nor  psychic  symptoms  peculiar  to  onanism.  Xor  is  there  any  specific 
onanistic  psychosis.  I  am  prepared  to  deny  that  onanism  ever  produces 
any  psychoses  in  those  who  are  not  already  predisposed."  That  such 
a  view'  is  now  becoming  widely  prevalent  is  illustrated  by  the  cautious 
and  temperate  discussion  of  masturbation  in  a  recent  work  by  a  non- 
medical writer,  Geofl'rey  Mortimer  ("Chapters  on  Human  Love,"  pp.  199- 
205). 

r 

The  testimony  of  expert  witnesses  with  regard  to  the  influ- 
ence of  masturbation  in  producing  other  forms  of  psychoses  and 
neuroses  is  becoming  equally  decisive;  and  here,  also,  the  tradi- 
tions of  Tissot  are  being  slowly  effaced.  ^^I  have  not,  in  the  whole 
of  my  practice,"  wrote  West,  over  thirty  years  ago,  "out  of  a  large 
experience  among  children  and  women,  seen  convulsions,  epi- 
lepsy, or  idiocy  induced  by  masturbation  in  any  child  of  either 
sex.  Xeither  have  I  seen  any  instance  in  which  hysteria,  epi- 
lepsy, or  insanity  in  women  after  puberty  was  due  to  masturba- 
tion, as  its  efficient  cause. "^  Gowers  speaks  somewhat  less  posi- 
tively, but  regards  masturbation  as  not  so  much  a  cause  of  true 
epilepsy  as  of  atypical  attacks,  sometimes  of  a  character  inter- 
mediate between  the  hysteroid  and  the  epileptoid  form;  this  re- 
lationship he  has  frequently  seen  in  boys.^  Leyden,  among  the 
causes  of  diseases  of  the  spinal  cord,  does  not  include  any  form 


^Charles  "West,  Lancet,  November  17.  1866.  As  regards  hysteria 
having  its  origin  before  puberty.  Freud  speaks  with  equal  decision, 
though  he  points  out  is  frequent  association  with  masturbation  (Xeu- 
rologisches  Centralblatt,  No.  10,  1896).  Fere,  on  the  other  hand,  considers 
that  onanism  mav  be  a  cause  of  hvsteria. 

=  Gowers,  "Epilepsy,"  1881,  p."31. 


1S4  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

of  sexual  excess.  Erb  remarks:  "In  moderation,  masturbation  is 
not  more  dangerous  to  the  spinal  cord  than  natural  coitus,  and 
has  no  bad  effects'';^  it  makes  no  difference,  Erb  considers, 
whether  the  orgasm  is  effected  normally  or  in  solitude.  This  is 
also  the  opinion  of  Toulouse,  of  Fiirbringer,  and  of  Curschmann. 

While  these  authorities  are  doubtless  justified  in  refusing  to  ascribe 
to  masturbation  any  part  in  the  production  of  psychic  or  nervous  dis- 
eases, it  seems  to  me  that  they  are  going  somewhat  beyond  their  province 
when  they  assert  that  masturbation  has  no  more  injurious  effect  than 
coitus.  If  the  sexual  orgasm  were  a  purely  physiological  phenomenon, 
this  position  would  be  sound.  But  the  sexual  orgasm  is  normally  bound 
up  with  a  mass  of  powerful  emotions  aroused  by  a  person  of  the  oppo- 
site sex.  It  is  in  the  joy  caused  by  the  play  of  these  emotions,  as  well 
as  in  the  discharge  of  the  sexual  orgasm,  that  the  satisfaction  of  coitus 
resides.  In  the  absence  of  the  desired  partner  the  orgasm,  wliatever  re- 
lief it  may  give,  must  be  followed  by  a  sense  of  dissatisfaction,  perhaps 
of  depression,  even  of  exhaustion.  Practically,  also,  there  is  more  prob- 
ability of  excess  in  masturbation  than  in  coitus,  and  more  likelihood  of 
arousinsr  the  orgasm  when  the  nervous  svstem  is  exhausted,  as  well  as  of 
doing  so  with  undue  violence.  Whether,  as  some  have  asserted,  mas- 
turbation involves  a  greater  nervous  effort  than  coitus  is  more  doubtful. 
(See,  also,  a  discussion  of  these  points  by  Rohleder.  "Die  Masturbation," 
pp.  168-175.)  It  thus  seems  somewhat  misleading  to  assert  that  mas- 
turbation has  no  more  injurious  effect  than  coitus. 

Reviewing  the  general  question  of  the  supposed  grave  symp- 
toms and  signs  of  masturbation,  and  its  pernicious  results,  we 
may  reach  the  conclusion  that  in  the  case  of  moderate  masturba- 
tion in  healthy,  well-born  individuals,  no  pernicious  results  fol- 
low.- With  regard  to  the  general  signs,  we  may  accept,  as  con- 
cerns both  sexes,  what  the  Obstetrical  and  Gynecological  Society 
of  Berlin  decided  in  1861.  in  a  discussion  of  it  in  women,  that 
there  are  none  which  can  l)e  regarded  as  reliable.^    With  res^ard 


'Ziemssen's  "Handlmch,"'  B.   11. 

-  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  an  analogous  result  seems  to  hold 
with  animals.  Among  highly-bred  horses  excessive  masturbation  is  liable 
to  occur  w  ith  injurious  results.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  point  out  that 
highly-bred   liorses  are  abnormal. 

'  With  regard  to  the  physical  signs,  the  same  conclusion  is  reached 
by  Legludic  (in  opposition  to  Martineau)  on  the  basis  of  a  large  experi- 
ence.    He   has  repeatedly    found   in   young  girls,   wlio  acknowledged   fre- 


AUTO-EROTISM.  185 

to  alleged  pernicious  results  generally,  we  may  note  the  con- 
clusion reached  by  Sir  James  Paget  many  years  ago  in  his  lecture 
on  ''Sexual  Hypochondriasis'*:  ''Masturbation/'"  he  said,  "does 
neither  more  or  less  harm  than  sexual  intercourse  practiced  with 
the  same  frequency  in  the  same  conditions  of  general  health  and 
age  and  circumstances.  Fwish/'"  he  added,  •'that  I  could  say  some- 
thing worse  of  so  nasty  a  practice.''  As  I  have  already  stated,  we 
may  certainly  say  ''something  worse,"  by  pointing  out  that  if 
masturbation  often  does  no  more  harm  than  sexual  intercourse, 
it  usually  does  less  good.  And  we  may  conclude  finally,  with 
Clouston,  that  the  opposing  views  on  the  subject  may  be  simply 
explained  by  the  fact  that  the  writers  on  both  sides  have  ignored 
or  insufficiently  recognized  the  influence  of  heredity  and  tem- 
perament. They  have  done  precisely  what  so  many  unscientific 
writers  on  inebriety  have  continued  to  do  unto  the  present  day, 
when  describing  the  terrible  results  of  alcohol  without  pointing 
out  that  the  chief  factor  in  such  cases  has  not  been  the  alcohol, 
but  the  organization  on  which  the  alcohol  acted.  Many  healthy 
persons  of  sound  stock  can  bear  witness  that  not  only  the  mod- 
erate use  of  alcohol,  but  even  occasional  excess,  produces  no  seri- 
ous result.  Excess  may  act,  according  to  the  familiar  old-fash- 
ioned adage,  like  the  lighted  match.  But  we  must  always  remem- 
ber the  obvious  truth,  that  it  makes  a  considerable  difference 
whether  you  threw  your  lighted  match  into  a  powder  magazine  or 
into  the  sea. 

While  we  may  thus  dismiss  the  extravagant  views  widely 
held  during  the  past  century,  concerning  the  awful  results  of 
masturbation,  as  due  to  ignorance  and  false  tradition,  it  must  be 
pointed  out  that,  even  in  healthy  or  moderately  healthy  indi- 
viduals, any  excess  in  solitary  self-excitement  may  still  produce 
results  which,  thous^h  slis:ht,  are  vet  harmful.  The  skin,  dis:es- 
tion,  and  circulation  may  all  be  disordered;   headache  and  neu- 


quent  masturbation,  that  the  organs  were  perfectly  healthy  and  normal, 
and  his  convictions  are  the  more  noteworthy,  since  he  speaks  as  a  pupil 
of  Tardieu.  who  attached  very  grave  significance  to  the  local  signs  of 
sexual  perv'ersitv  and  excess.  Legludic.  "Xotes  et  Observations  de  Mede- 
cine  Leo-ale.-"'  1896.  p.  95. 


186  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

ralgia  ma}'  occur;  and,  as  in  normal  sexual  excess  or  in  undue 
frequency  of  sexual  excitement  during  sleep,  there  is  a  certain 
general  lowering  of  nervous  tone.  Probably  the  most  important 
of  the  comparatively  frequent  results — though  this  also  arises 
usually  on  a  somewhat  morbid  soil — is  neurasthenia,  with  its 
manifold  symptoms.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  ancient 
belief,  dating  from  Hippocrates,  that  sexual  excesses  produce 
^pinal  disease,  as  well  as  the  belief  that  masturbation  causes  in- 
sanitv,  are  larsrelv  due  to  the  failure  to  dias^nose  neurasthenia. 

The  following  case  of  neurasthenia,  recorded  by  Eulenberg.  may 
be  given  as  a  classical  picture  of  the  nervous  disturbances  which  may 
be  associated  with  masturbation,  and  are  frequently  regarded  as  solely 
caused  by  habits  of  masturbation :  ]\Iiss  H.  H.,  28  years  of  age,  robust, 
of  dark  complexion,  with  fully-developed  figure,  without  any  trace  of 
anemia  or  chlorosis,  but  with  apathetic  expression,  bluish  rings  around 
the  eyes,  with  hypochondriacal  and  melancholy  feelings.  She  complains 
of  pressure  on  the  head  ("as  if  head  would  burst"),  giddiness,  ringing 
in  the  ears,  photopsia.  hemicrania,  pains  in  the  back  and  at  sacrum, 
and  all  the  syndromes  of  spinal  adynamia,  with  a  sense  of  fatigue  on  the 
least  exertion  in  walking  or  standing;  she  sways  when  standing  with 
closed  eyes,  tendon-reflexes  exaggerated;  there  is  a  sense  of  oppression, 
intercostal  neuralgia,  and  all  the  signs  of  neurasthenic  dyspepsia;  and 
cardialgia,  nausea,  flatulence,  meteorism,  and  alternate  constipation  and 
diarrha'a.  She  chiefly  complains  of  a  feeling  of  weight  and  pain  in  the 
abdomen,  caused  by  the  slightest  movement,  and  of  a  form  of  pollution 
(with  clitoridian  spasms),  especially  near  menstruation,  with  copious 
flow'  of  mucus,  characteristic  pains,  and  hyperexcitability.  Menstruation 
was  irregular  and  profuse.  Examination  showed  tumid  and  elongated 
nynipha',  with  brown  pigmentation;  large  vagina,  with  rudimentary 
hymen;  and  retrofk^xion  of  uterus.  After  much  persuasion  the  patient 
confessed  that,  when  a  girl  of  12,  and  as  the  result  of  repeated  attempts 
at  coitus  by  a  boy  of  10.  slie  had  been  impelled  to  frequent  masturbation. 
This  had  caused  great  shame  and  remorse,  which,  however,  had  not 
sufficed  to  restrain  the  liabit.  Her  mother  having  died,  she  lived  alone 
\\  ith  her  father,  and  had  no  one  in  w  hom  to  confide.  Regarding  lierself 
as  no  longer  a  virgin,  she  liad  refused  several  offers  of  marriage,  and 
thus  still  further  aggravated  her  mmtal  condition. 

Since  "Heard  first  described  neurasthenia,  many  diverse  opinions 
have  been  expressed  concerning  the  rehitionships  of  sexual  irregularities 
to  neurasthenia.  Gilles  de  la  Tourette,  in  his  little  monograpli  on  neu- 
rasthenia, following  the  traditions  of  Charcot's  school,  dismisses  the  ques- 


AUTO-EROTISM.  187 

tion  of  any  sexual  causation  without  discussion.  Binswanger  ("Die 
Pathologic  und  Therapie  der  Xeurasthenic"),  while  admitting  that 
nearly  all  neurasthenic  persons  acknowledge  masturbation  at  some 
period,  considers  it  is  not  an  important  cause  of  neurasthenia,  only  dif- 
fering from  coitus  by  the  fact  that  the  opportunities  for  it  are  more  fre- 
quent, and  that  the  sexual  disturbances  of  neurasthenia  are,  in  the  ma- 
jority of  cases,  secondary.  Rohleder,  on  the  other  hand,  wlio  takes  a 
very  grave  A^iew  of  the  importance  of  masturbation,  considers  that  its 
most  serious  results  are  a  question  of  neurasthenia.  Kraflft-Ebing  has 
declared  his  opinion  that  masturbation  is  a  cause  of  neurasthenia.  T.  D. 
Savill  ("Clinical  Lectures  on  Neurasthenia,"  1899,  p.  37)  regards  mas- 
turbation as  an  important  causal  agent  of  neurasthenia.  Collins  and 
Phillip  {Medical  Record,  March  25,  1899),  in  an  analysis  of  333  cases  of 
neurasthenia,  found  that  123  cases  were  apparently  due  to  overwork  or 
masturbation.  Freud  concludes  that  neurasthenia  proper  can  nearly 
always  be  traced  to  excessive  masturbation  or  to  some  interference  with 
the  normal  sexual  act.  This  view  is  confirmed  by  Gattel's  careful  study 
("Ueber  die  Sexuellen  Ursachen  der  Neurasthenic  und  Angstneurose," 
i898).  Gattel  investigated  100  consecutive  cases  of  severe  functional 
nervous  disorder  in  the  clinic  of  Professor  KraflPt-Ebing  at  Vienna,  and 
found  that  in  every  case  of  neurasthenia  in  a  male  (28  in  all)  there  was 
masturbation,  while  of  the  15  women  with  neurasthenia  only  1  is  recorded 
as  not  masturbating,  and  she  practiced  coitus  reservatus.  Irrespective  of 
the  particular  form  of  the  nervous  disorder,  Gattel  found  that  18  women 
out  of  42  and  36  men  out  of  58  acknowledged  masturbation.  (This  shows 
a  slightly  larger  proportion  among  the  men,  but  the  men  were  mostly 
young,  while  the  women  were  mostly  of  more  mature  age.)  It  must, 
however,  always  be  remembered  tliat  we  have  no  equally  careful  statis- 
tics of  masturbation  in  perfectly  healthy  persons.  We  must  also  remem- 
ber that  we  have  to  distinguish  between  the  post  and  the  propter,  and 
that  it  is  quite  possible  that  neurasthenic  persons  are  specially  predis- 
posed to  masturbation. 

On  the  Avhole.  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  neurasthenia  is  liable 
to  be  associated  with  masturbation,  carried  to  an  excessive  extent.  But, 
while  neurasthenia  is  probably  the  severest  affection  that  is  liable  to 
result  from,  or  accompany,  masturbation,  we  are  scarcely  yet  entitled  to 
accept  the  conclusion  of  Gattel  that  in  such  cases  there  is  no  hereditary 
neurotic  predisposition.  We  must  steer  clearly  between  the  opposite 
errors  of  those,  on  the  one  hand,  who  assert  that  heredity  is  the  sole 
cause  of  functional  nervous  disorders,  and  those,  on  the  other  hand,  who 
consider  that  the  incident  that  may  call  out  the  disorder  is  itself  a  sole 
sufficient  cause. 

In  many  cases  it  has  seemed  to  me  that  masturbation,  when 


188  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

practiced  in  excess  before  the  age  of  pubert}',  has  led,  more  espe- 
cially in  Avomen,  to  an  aversion  for  normal  coitus  in  later  life. 
In  such  cases  some  peripheral  irritation  or  abnormal  mental 
stimulus  trains  the  physical  sexual  orgasm  to  respond  to  an  ap- 
peal which  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  fascination  nor- 
mally exerted  by  the  opposite  sex.  At  puberty,  however,  the 
claim  of  passion  and  the  real  charm  of  sex  begins  to  make  itself 
felt,  but,  owing  to  the  physical  sexual  feelings  having  been 
trained  into  a  foreign  channel,  these  new  and  more  normal  sex 
associations  remain  of  a  purely  ideal  and  emotional  character, 
without  the  strong  sensual  impulses  by  which  under  healthy  con- 
ditions they  tend  to  be  more  and  more  associated  as  puberty 
passes  on  into  adolescence  or  mature  adult  life.  I  am  fairly  cer- 
tain that  in  many  women,  often  highly  intellectual  women,  the 
precocious  excess  in  masturbation  has  been  a  main  cause,  not 
necessarily  the  sole  efficient  cause,  in  producing  a  divorce  in  later 
life  between  the  physical  sensuous  impulses  and  the  ideal  emo- 
tion. The  sensuous  impulse  having  been  evolved  and  perverted 
before  the  manifestation  of  the  higher  emotion,  the  two  groups 
of  feelings  have  become  divorced  for  the  whole  of  life.  This  is 
a  common  source  of  much  personal  misery  and  family  unhappi- 
ness,  though  at  the  same  time  the  clash  of  contending  impulses 
may  lead  to  a  high  development  of  moral  character.  When  early 
masturbation  is  a  factor  in  producing  sexual  inversion  it  usually 
operates  in  the  manner  I  have  here  indicated,  the  repulsion  for 
normal  coitus  helping  to  furnish  a  soil  on  which  tlie  inverted  im- 
pulse may  develop  unimpeded. 

This  point  has  not  wiiolly  escaped  previous  obsorvers.  ihoiioh  thoy 
do  not  seem  to  have  noted  its  psychological  mechanism.  Tissot  stated 
that  masturbation  causes  an  aversion  to  maniage.  More  riM-ently, 
T.oiman  ("Ueber  Onanismus  beim  \\'eibe."  Tlicnipoitisichc  Monat.shrftc, 
April,  1890)  considered  that  masturbation  in  women,  leading  to  a  per- 
version of  sexual  feeling,  including  inability  to  find  satisfaction  in  coitus, 
affects  the  associated  cenlrc^.  Smith  Baker,  again  ("The  Neurophj'sical 
Element  in  Conjugal  Aversion."'  ,J(mru(il  of  Nrrroii.9  and  Mental  Diftcafir, 
September,  1S92),  finds  tliat  a  "source  of  marital  aversion  seems  to  lie 
in  the  fact  that  substitution  of  mechanical  and  iniquitous  (>\citation9 
affords  inore  thorough  sati'^fact ion  11i;ni  tlu'  mutual  legitimate  ones  do," 


AUTO-EROTISM.  189 

and  gives  cases  in  point.  Savill,  al^o,  who  regards  masturbation  as  more 
common  in  women  than  is  usually  supposed,  regards  dyspareunia,  or 
pain  in  coition,  as  one  of  the  signs  of  tlie  habit. 

On  the  psychic  side,  no  doubt,  the  most  frequent  and  the 
most  characteristic  result  of  persistent  and  excessive  masturba- 
tion is  a  morbid  heightening  of  self -consciousness  without  any 
co-ordinated  heightening  of  self-esteem.  The  man  or  woman 
who  is  kissed  by  a  desirable  and  desired  person  of  the  opposite 
sex  feels  a  satisfying  sense  of  pride  and  elation,  which  must  al- 
ways be  absent  from  the  manifestations  of  auto-erotic  activity. 
This  must  be  so,  even  apart  from  the  masturbator's  consciousness 
of  the  general  social  attitude  toward  his  practices  and  his  dread 
of  detection,  for  that  may  also  exist  as  regards  normal  coitus 
without  any  corresponding  psychic  effects.  The  masturbator, 
if  his  practice  is  habitual,  is  thus  compelled  to  cultivate  an  arti- 
ficial consciousness  of  self-esteem,  and  may  show  a  tendency  to 
mental  arrogance.  Self-righteousness  and  religiosity  constitute, 
as  it  were,  a  protection  against  the  tendency  to  remorse.  A  mor- 
bid mental  soil  is,  of  course,  required  for  the  full  development 
of  these  characteristics.  The  habitual  male  masturbator,  it  must 
be  remembered,  is  often  a  shy  and  solitary  person;  individuals 
of  this  temperament  are  especially  predisposed  to  excesses  in  all 
the  manifestations  of  auto-erotism,  while  the  yielding  to  such 
tendencies  increases  the  reserve  and  the  horror  of  society,  at  the 
same  time  producing  a  certain  suspicion  of  others.  The  habitual 
female  masturbator,  on  the  other  hand,  is  often  abnormally  de- 
ficient in  feminine  shyness.^  This  is  not,  of  course,  invariable. 
Spitzka  has  noted  a  tendency  to  indecision,  self-reproach,  and 
mental  depression  as  common  in  women  who  have  extensively 
practiced  masturbation  before  and  aft-er  marriage.  In  either  case, 
auto-erotic  excesses  of  this  kind  appearing  during  adolescence  in 
young  men  and  women  of  intelligence — whatever  absence  of  gross 
injury  to  health  there  may  be — often  produce  a  certain  degree  of 


^  This  is  not.  of  course,  invariable.  Spitzka  has  noted  a  tendency  to 
indecision,  self-reproach,  and  mental  depression  as  common  in  women  who 
have  extensively  practiced  masturbation  before  and  after  marriage. 


lUO  rSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

jDSYcliic  perversion,  and  tend  to  foster  false  and  high-strung  ideals 
of  life.  I  have  already  quoted  Anstie's  remarks  on  the  frequent 
connection  between  masturbation  and  premature  false  work  in 
literature  and  art.  It  may  be  added  that  excess  in  masturbation 
has  often  occurred  in  men  and  women  whose  work  in  literature 
and  art  cannot  be  described  as  premature  and  false.  K.  P.  Moritz, 
in  early  adult  life,  gave  himself  up  to  excess  in  masturbation,  and 
up  to  the  age  of  thirty  had  no  relations  with  women.  Rousseau, 
in  his  ^'Confessions,"  admirably  describes  how  his  own  solitary, 
timid,  and  imaginative  life  found  its  chief  sexual  satisfaction  in 
masturbation.^  Grogol,  the  great  Russian  novelist,  masturbated 
to  excess,  and  it  has  been  suggested  that  the  dreamy  melancholy 
thus  induced  was  a  factor  in  his  success  as  a  novelist.  Goethe,  it 
has  been  asserted,  at  one  time  masturbated  to  excess;  I  am  not 
certain  on  what  authority  the  statement  is  made,  probably  on  a 
passage  in  the  seventh  book  of  ^'Dichtung  und  Wahrheit,''  in 
which,  describing  his  student-life  at  Leipzig,  and  his  loss  of 
Aennchen,  owing  to  his  neglect  of  her,  he  tells  how  he  re- 
venged that  neglect  on  his  own  physical  nature  by  foolish  prac- 
tices from  which  he  thinks  he  suffered  for  a  considerable  period. - 
That,  at  the  present  day,  eminence  in  art  and  literature  may  1)0 
combined  with  the  excessive  practice  of  masturbation  is  a  fact 
of  which  I  have  unquestionable  evidence.  How  far  masturba- 
tion, in  moderately  healthy  persons  living  without  normal  sexual 
relationships,  may  be  considered  normal  is  a  dillicult  (piestiou, 
only  to  1)0  decided  with  reference  to  individual  oases.    As  a  gen- 


'  "I  loaint  tliat  danjierous  sii])])leniont,"  Rousseau  tolls  us  (Part  1, 
lik.  Ill),  "'which  doceivos  Nature.  This  vice,  which  bash  fulness  and  timid- 
ity find  so  convenient,  has.  moreover,  a  <rre;it  attraction  for  liv(>ly  imapi- 
nntions.  for  it  enaV)les  them  to  do  what  they  will,  so  to  speak,  with  tlie 
whole  fair  sex,  and  to  enjoy  at  ])leasure  the  beauty  who  attracts  them 
without  having  obtained  lier  consent." 

-  "Ich  hiitte  sie  wirklich  verloren.  und  die  Tollheit.  mit  dcr  ich 
nieincn  Fehlcr  an  mir  sclbst  riichte,  indem  ich  auf  mancherlci  unsinnifjfe 
Weise  in  meine  physische  Natur  sturmte,  um  der  sittlichen  etwaa  zu 
T.eide  zu  thun.  hat  sehr  viel  zu  den  ktirperlichen  Uebeln  beiijfctrapen, 
unter  denen  ich  einipc  der  besten  Jahre  meines  Lebens  verlor;  ja  ich 
wiirc  \iclleicht  an  diescm  Verlust  vollij;  zu  (irunde  pe<?an<Ten.  hiitte  sich 
hier  nicht  das  poeti^^clic  Talent  mil  seinen  lleilkraften  besonders  hiilf- 
reich  erwiescn." 


AUTO-EROTISM.  191 

eral  rule,  it  may  be  laid  down  that  when  masturbation  is  only 
practiced  at  rare  intervals,  and  faute  de  mieu.v,  in  order  to  obtain 
relief  for  physical  oppression  and  mental  obsession,  it  may  be 
regarded  as  the  natural  result  of  unnatural  circumstances;  but 
that  when,  as  often  happens  in  mental  degeneracy — and  as  in 
shy  and  imaginative  persons,  perhaps  of  slightly  neurotic  tem- 
perament, may  also  sometimes  become  the  case — it  is  practiced 
in  preference  to  sexual  relationships,  it  at  once  becomes  abnormal 
and  may  possibly  lead  to  a  variety  of  harmful  results,  mental  and 
physical.^ 

It  must  always  be  remembered,  however,  that,  while  the 
practice  of  masturbation  may  be  harmful  in  its  consequences,  it 
is  also,  in  the  absence  of  normal  sexual  relationships,  frequently 
not  without  good  results.  In  the  medical  literature  of  the  cent- 
ury a  number  of  cases  have  been  incidentally  recorded  in  which 
the  patients  found  masturbation  beneficial,  and  such  cases  might 
certainly  have  been  enormously  increased  if  there  had  been  any 
open-eyed  desire  to  discover  them.  My  own  conclusions  are  fully 
in  harmony  with  those  of  Professor  Sudduth,  who  asserts  that 
"masturbation  is,  in  the  main,  practiced  for  its  sedative  effect  on 
the  nervous  system.  The  relaxation  that  follows  the  act  consti- 
tutes its  real  attraction.  .  .  .  Both  masturbation  and  sexual 
intercourse  should  be  classed  as  typical  sedatives.'*- 


^  A  somewhat  similar  classification  has  already  been  made  by  Max 
Dessoir,  who  points  out  that  we  must  distinguisli  between  onanists  aus 
NotJi,  and  onanists  aus  LeidenscJiaft,  the  latter  gi'oup  alone  being  of 
really  serious  importance.  The  classification  of  Dallemagne  is  also  some- 
what similar:  he  distinguishes  onanie  pa?'  impulsion,  occurring  in  mental 
degeneration  and  in  persons  of  inferior  intelligence,  from  onanie  par 
evocation  ou  obsession. 

-  W.  Xavier  Sudduth.  ''A  Study  in  the  Psycho-physics  of  Masturba- 
tion." Chicago  Medical  Recorder.  March,  1898.  Haig.  who  reaches  a 
similar  conclusion,  has  sought  to  find  its  precise  mechanism  in  the  blood- 
pressure.  "As  the  sexual  act  produces  lower  and  falling  blood-pressure." 
he  remarks,  "it  will  of  necessity  relieve  conditions  which  are  due  to 
high  and  rising  blood-pressure,  such,  for  instance,  as  mental  depression 
and  bad  temper:  and.  unless  my  observation  deceives  me.  we  have  here 
a  connection  between  conditions  of  high  blood-pressure  with  mental  and 
bodily  depression  and  acts  of  masturbation,  for  this  act  Mill  relieve  these 
conditions  and  tend  to  be  practiced  for  this  purpose."  ("Uric  Acid." 
fourth  edition,  p.  129.) 


192  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

Gall  mentioned  a  woman  in  the  Salpetriere  who  often  suffered 
severe  pain  in  the  back  of  the  neck,  together  with  strong  sexual  desire, 
which  she  satisfied  by  masturbation  ten  or  twelve  times  a  day;  "this 
caused  no  incommodity,  and  led  to  the  immediate  disappearance  of  the 
pain."  Clouston  ("Mental  Diseases,"  1887,  p.  496 j  quotes  as  follows 
from  a  letter  written  by  a  youth  of  22:  "I  am  sure  I  cannot  explain 
myself,  nor  give  account  of  such  conduct.  Sometimes  I  felt  so  uneasy 
at  my  work  that  I  w  ould  go  to  the  w.c.  to  do  it,  and  it  seemed  to  give 
me  ease,  and  then  I  would  work  like  a  hatter  for  a  whole  week  till  the 
sensation  overpowered  me  again.  I  have  been  the  most  filthy  scoundrel 
in  existence,"  etc.  Garnier  presents  the  case  of  a  monk,  aged  33,  living 
a  chaste  life,  who  wrote  the  following  account  of  his  experiences:  "For 
the  past  three  years  at  least  I  have  felt,  every  two  or  three  weeks,  a 
kind  of  fatigue  in  the  penis,  or  rather  sliglit  shooting  pains,  increasing 
during  several  days,  and  then  I  feel  a  strong  desire  to  expel  the  semen. 
When  no  nocturnal  pollution  follows,  the  retention  of  the  semen  causes 
general  disturbance,  headache,  and  sleeplessness.  I  must  confess  that 
occasionally,  to  free  myself  from  the  general  and  local  oppression,  I  lie 
on  my  stomach  and  obtain  ejaculation.  I  am  at  once  relieved;  a  weight 
seems  to  be  lifted  from  my  chest,  and  sleep  returns."  This  patient  con- 
sulted Gamier  as  to  wlietlier  tliis  artificial  relief  was  not  more  dangerous 
than  the  sufferings  it  relieved.  Garnier  advised  that  if  the  ordinary 
regime  of  a  well-ordered  monastery,  together  with  anaphrQdisiac  seda- 
tives, proved  inefficacious,  the  maneuver  might  be  continued  when  neces- 
sary (P.  Garnier,  "Celibat  et  Celibataires,"  1887,  p.  320).  H.  C.  Coe 
(American  Jovrtial  of  Ohstctrics,  p.  706,  July,  1889)  gives  the  case  of  a 
married  lady  who  was  deeply  sensitive  of  the  wrong  nature  of  masturba- 
tion, but  found  in  it  the  only  means  of  relieving  the  severe  ovarian  pain, 
associated  with  intense  sexual  excitement,  which  attended  menstruation. 
During  the  intermenstrual  period  the  temptation  was  absent.  Turnbull 
knew  a  youth  who  found  that  masturbation  gave  great  relief  to  feel- 
ings of  heaviness  and  confusion  which  came  on  him  periodically:  and 
Wigglesworth  has  frequently  seen  masturbation  after  epileptic  fits  in 
patients  who  never  masturbated  at  otluM-  times.  Moll  ("Libido  Sexu- 
alis,"  B.  1,  p.  13)  refers  to  a  woman  of  28,  an  artist  of  nervous  and 
excitable  tempora7nent,  wlio  could  not  find  sexual  satisfaction  with  her 
lover,  but  only  when  masturbating,  which  she  did  once  or  twice  a  day 
or  oftcner;  without  masturbation,  she  said,  she  would  be  in  a  much 
more  nervous  state.  A  friend  tells  me  of  a  married  lady  of  40,  sepa- 
rated from  her  liusband  on  account  of  incomi)atibility,  who  suffered  from 
irregular  menstruation:  she  tried  masturbation,  and  in  her  own  words 
"became  normal  again":  she  had  never  masturbated  previously.  I  have 
also  been  informed  of  the  case  of  a  young  unmarried  woman,  intellectual, 
athletic,  and   well   developed,   who   from   the   age  of  seven   or   eight   has 


AUTO-EROTISM.  193 

masturbated   nearlj'   every   night  before   going   to   sleep,   and    would   be 
restless  and  unable  to  sleep  if  she  did  not. 

Judging  from  m}'  own  observations  among  both  sexes,  I 
should  say  that  in  normal  persons,  well  past  the  age  of  puberty, 
and  otherwise  leading  a  chaste  life,  masturbation  would  be  little 
practiced  except  for  the  physical  and  mental  relief  it  brings. 
Many  vigorous  and  healthy  unmarried  women,  living  a  life  of 
sexual  abstinence,  have  asserted  emphatically  that  only  by  sex- 
ually exciting  themselves,  at  intervals,  could  they  escape  from  a 
condition  of  nervous  oppression  and  sexual  obsession  which  they 
felt  to  be  a  state  of  hysteria.  In  most  cases  this  happens  about 
the  menstrual  period,  and,  whether  accomplished  as  a  purely 
physical  act  or  by  the  co-operation  of  the  imaginative  representa- 
tion of  a  desired  person,  the  practice  is  not  cultivated  for  its  own 
sake  during  the  rest  of  the  month. 

In  illustration  of  the  foregoing  statements  I  will  here  record  a  few 
typical  observations  of  experiences  with  regard  to  masturbation.  The 
cases  selected  are  all  women,  and  are  all  in  a  fairly  normal,  and,  for 
the  most  part,  excellent,  state  of  health;  some  of  them,  however,  belong 
to  somewhat  neurotic  families,  and  these  are  persons  of  unusual  mental 
ability  and  intelligence. 

Observation  I. 

Unmarried,  aged  38.  She  is  very  vigorous  and  healthy,  of  a 
strongly  passionate  nature,  but  never  masturbated  until  a  few  years 
ago,  when  she  was  made  love  to  by  a  man  who  used  to  kiss  her.  etc. 
Although  she  did  not  respond  to  these  advances,  she  was  thrown  into 
a  state  of  restless  sexual  excitement;  on  one  occasion  when  in  bed  in 
this  restless  state  she  accidentally  found  on  passing  her  hand  over  her 
body  that  by  playing  with  "a  round  thing"  [clitoris]  a  pleasurable 
feeling  was  produced.  She  found  herself  greatly  relieved  and  quieted 
by  these  manipulations,  though  there  remained  a  feeling  of  tiredness 
after^^'ard.  She  has  sometimes  masturbated  six  times  in  a  night,  espe- 
cially before  and  after  the  menstrual  period,  until  she  was  unable  to 
produce  the  orgasm  or  any  feeling  of  pleasure. 

Observation  II. 

Unmarried,  aged  45,  of  rather  nervous  temperament.  She  has  for 
many  years  been  accustomed,  usually  about  a  week  before  the  appear- 
ance of  the  menses,  to  obtain  sexual  relief  by  kicking  out  her  legs  when 

13 


194  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

lying  down.  In  this  way,  she  says,  she  obtains  complete  satisfaction. 
She  never  touches  herself.  On  the  follo\A'ing  day  she  frequently  has  pains 
over  the  lower  part  of  the  abdomen,  such  pains  being  apparently  mus- 
cular and  due  to  the  exertion. 

Observation  III. 

Aged  29,  recently  married,  belonging  to  a  neurotic  and  morbid 
family,  herself  healthy,  and  living  usually  in  the  country;  vivacious, 
passionate,  enthusiastic,  intellectual,  and  taking  a  prominent  part  in 
philanthropic  schemes  and  municipal  affairs;  at  the  same  time  fond  of 
society,  and  very  attractive  to  men.  For  many  years  she  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  excite  herself,  though  she  felt  it  was  not  good  for  her.  The 
habit  was  merely  practiced  faute  de  mienx.  "I  used  to  sit  on  the  edge 
of  the  bed  sometimes,"'  she  said,  "and  it  came  over  me  so  strongly  tliat 
1  simply  couldn't  resist  it.  I  felt  that  I  should  go  mad,  and  I  thought  it 
was  better  to  touch  myself  than  be  insane.  ...  I  used  to  press  my 
clitoris  in.  ...  It  made  me  very  tired  afterward — not  like  being 
with  my  husband."  The  confession  was  made  from  a  conviction  of  the 
importance  of  the  subject  and  with  the  hope  that  some  way  might  be 
found  out  of  the  difliculties  which  so  often  be?et  women. 

Observation  IV. 

Unmarried,  aged  27 :  possesses  much  force  of  character  and  high 
intelligence;  is  actively  engaged  in  a  professional  career.  As  a  child 
of  seven  or  eight  she  began  to  experience  what  she  describes  as  lightning- 
like sensations,  "mere  vague,  uneasy  feelings  or  momentary  twitches 
which  took  place  alike  in  the  vulva  or  the  vagina  or  the  uterus,  not 
amounting  to  an  orgasm  and  nothing  like  it."'  These  sensations,  it 
should  be  added,  have  continued  into  adult  life.  "I  always  experience 
them  just  before  menstruation,  and  afterward  for  a  few  days,  and  occa- 
sionally, though  it  seems  to  me  not  so  often,  during  the  period  itself. 
I  may  have  the  sensation  tour  or  tive  times  during  the  day:  it  is  not 
dependent  at  all  upon  external  impressions  or  my  own  thoughts,  and  is 
sometimes  absent  for  days  together.  It  is  just  one  flash,  as  if  you  would 
snap  your  fingers,  and  it  is  over." 

As  a  child  she  was,  of  course,  quite  unconscious  that  there  was  any- 
tliinc  sexual  in  these  sensations.  Thev  were  then  usuallv  associated 
with  various  imaginary  scenes.  The  one  usually  indulged  in  was  that 
a  black  bear  was  waiting  for  her  up  in  a  tree,  and  that  she  was  slowly 
raised  up  toward  the  bear  by  means  of  ro])es  and  then  lowered  again  and 
raised,  feeling  afraid  of  being  caught  by  the  bear,  and  yet  having  a 
morbid  desire  to  be  caught.  In  after-years  she  realized  tliat  there  was  a 
physical  sexual  cause  underlying  these  imaginations,  and  that    wliat  sho 


AUTO-EROTISM.  195 

liked  was  a  feeling  of  resistance  to  the  bear  giving  rise  to  the  physical 
sensation. 

At  a  someuliiit  hiter  ago.  thoufjli  wliile  still  a  child,  slie  cherished 
an  ideal  passion  for  a  person  very  niucli  oldPr  than  herself,  this  passion 
absorbing  her  thoughts  for  a  period  of  two  years,  during  which,  however, 
there  was  no  progress  made  in  physical  sensation.  It  was  when  she  was 
nearly  thirteen  years  of  age,  soon  after  the  appearance  of  menstruation, 
and  under  the  influence  of  this  ideal  passion,  that  she  first  learned  to 
experience  the  sexual  orgasm,  which  was  not  associated  with  the  thought 
of  any  person.  "I  did  not  associate  it  with  anything  high  or  beautiful, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  I  had  imbibed  our  current  ideas  in  regard  to 
sexual  feelings,  and  viewed  them  in  a  very  poor  light  indeed."  She  con- 
siders that  her  sexual  feelings  were  stronger  at  this  period  than  at  any 
other  time  in  her  life.  She  could,  however,  often  deny  herself  physical 
satisfaction  for  weeks  at  a  time  in  order  that  she  might  not  feel  unworthy 
of  the  object  of  her  ideal  passion.  "As  for  the  sexual  satisfaction,"  she 
writes,  "it  was  experimental.  I  had  heard  older  girls  speak  of  the 
pleasure  of  such  feelings,  but  I  was  not  taught  anything  by  example  or 
otherwise.  I  merely  rubbed  myself  with  the  wash-rag  while  bathing, 
Malting  for  a  result,  and  having  the  same  peculiar  feelings  I  had  so  often 
experienced.  I  am  not  aware  of  any  ill  effects  having  resulted,  but  I 
felt  degraded,  and  tried  hard  to  overcome  the  habit.  No  one  had  spoken 
to  me  of  the  habit,  but  from  the  secrecy  of  grown  people,  and  passages 
I  liad  heard  from  the  Bible,  I  conceived  the  idea  that  it  was  a  repre- 
hensible practice.  And,  while  this  did  not  curb  my  desire,  it  taught  me 
self-control,  and  I  vowed  that  each  time  should  be  the  last.  I  was  often 
able  to  keep  the  resolution  for  two  or  thre.e  weeks."  Some  four  years 
later  she  gradually  succeeded  in  breaking  herself  of  the  practice  in  so 
far  as  it  had  become  a  habit;  she  has,  however,  acquired  a  fuller 
knoAvledge  of  sexual  matters,  and,  though  she  has  still  a  great  dread  of 
masturbation  as  a  vice,  she  does  not  hesitate  to  relieve  her  physical  feel- 
ings when  it  seems  best  to  her  to  do  so.  "I  am  usually  able  to  direct 
my  thoughts  from  these  sensations,"  she  writes;  "but  if  they  seem  to 
make  me  irritable  or  wakeful  I  relieve  myself.  It  is  a  physical  act  un- 
associated  with  deep  feeling  of  any  kind.  I  have  always  felt  that  it  w^as 
a  rather  unpleasant  compromise  with  my  physical  nature,  but  certainly 
necessary  in  my  case.  Yet  I  have  abstained  from  gratification  for  very 
long  periods.  If  the  feeling  is  not  strong  at  the  menstrual  period  I 
go  on  very  well  without  either  the  sensation  or  the  gratification  until 
the  next  period.  And,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  best  antidote  I  have 
found  and  the  best  preventive  is  to  think  about  spiritual  things  or 
someone  Avhom  I  love.  It  is  simply  a  matter  of  training,  I  suppose, — a 
sort  of  mental  gymnastics. — which  draws  the  attention  away  from  the 
physical   feelings."     This  lady  has  never   nad   anj^   sexual   relationships. 


IDG  ^  I'SYCHOLOGY    01     SEX. 

and,  since  she  is  ambitious  and  believes  that  the  sexual  emotions  may 
be  transformed  so  as  to  become  a  source  of  motive  power  throughout 
the  Avhole  of  life,  she  wishes  to  avoid  such  relationships. 

Observatiox  V. 

Unmarried,  aged  31,  in  good  healtli,  with,  however,  a  somewhat 
hysterical  excess  of  energy,  with  an  accompanying  horror  of  sexual  re- 
lationships. ''When  1  was  about  20  years  of  age,"'  she  writes,  "a  friend 
came  to  me  with  the  confession  that  for  several  years  she  had  mastur- 
bated, and  had  become  such  a  slave  to  the  habit  that  she  severely  suf- 
fered from  its  ill  effects.  At  that  time  I  had  never  heard  of  self-abuse 
by  women.  I  listened  to  her  story  with  much  sympathy  and  interest, 
but  some  skepticism,  and  determined  to  try  experiments  upon  myself 
with  the  idea  of  getting  to  understand  the  matter  in  order  to  assist  my 
friend.  After  some  manipulation  I  succeeded  in  awakening  what  had 
before  been  unconscious  and  unknown.  I  purposely  allowed  the  habit 
to  grow  upon  me,  and  one  night — for  I  always  operated  u]ion  myself 
before  going  to  sleep,  never  in  the  morning — I  obtained  considerable 
pleasurable  satisfaction,  but  the  following  day  my  conscience  awoke;  I 
also  felt  pain  located  at  the  back  of  my  head,  and  down  the  spinal 
column.  I  ceased  my  operations  for  a  time,  and  then  began  again  some- 
what regularlv.  once  a  month  a  few  days  after  menstruation.  Durins: 
those  months  in  which  I  exercised  moderation  I  think  1  obtained  much 
local  relief  with  comparatively  little  injury,  but  later  on,  finding  myself 
in  robust  health,  I  increased  my  experiments,  the  habit  grew  upon  me, 
and  it  was  only  with  an  almost  superhuman  effort  that  I  broke  myself 
free.  Xeedless  to  say  that  I  gave  no  assistance  to  my  suffering  friciid. 
nor  did  I  ever  refer  to  the  subject  after  her  confession  to  me. 

''Some  two  years  later  I  heard  of  sexual  jiractices  between  women 
as  a  frequent  habit  in  certain  quarters.  T  again  interested  myself  in 
masturbation,  for  I  had  been  told  something  that  led  me  to  believe  that 
there  was  muoli  more  for  me  to  discover.  Not  knowing  the  most 
elementary  physiology.  I  questioned  some  of  my  friends,  and  then  com- 
menced again.  I  restricted  myself  to  relief  from  local  congestion  and 
irritation  by  calling  fortli  the  emission  of  mucus  rather  than  by  seeking 
pleasure.  At  the  same  time  I  sought  to  discover  what  manipulation  of 
the  clitoris  would  lead  to.  The  habit  grew  upon  me  with  startling 
rapidity,  and  I  became  more  or  less  its  slave,  but  T  suflered  from  no  very 
great  ill  effects  until  I  started  in  search  of  more  discoveries.  I  found 
that  T  was  a  complete  ignoramus  as  to  the  formation  of  a  woman's  body, 
and  by  experiments  upon  myself  sought  to  discover  tlie  vagina.  I  con- 
tinued my  operations  until  I  obtained  an  entrance.  T  think  the  rough 
handling  of  myself  during  this  final  stage  disturbed  my  nervous  -system. 
and    caused    me   considerable    pain    and   exhaustion    at    the   back    of   my 


AUTO-KHOTISM.  197 

head,  the  spinal  column,  the  back  of  my  eyes,  and  a  general  feeling  of 
languor,  etc. 

"I  could  not  bear  to  be  the  slave  of  a  habit,  and  after  much  suffer- 
ing and  efl'orts,  which  only  led  to  falls  to  lower  depths  of  conscious 
failure,  my  better  self  rebelled,  until  by  a  great  efTort  and  much  prayer 
I  kept  myself  pure  for  a  Avhole  week.  This  partial  recoverj^  gave  me 
hope,  but  then  I  again  fell  a  victim  to  the  habit,  much  to  my  chagrin, 
and  became  hopeless  of  ever  retracing  my  steps  toward  my  ideal  of 
virtue.  For  some  days  I  lost  energy,  spirit,  and  hope;  my  nervous  sys- 
tem appeared  to  be  ruined,  but  I  did  not  really  despair  of  victory  in 
the  end.  I  thought  of  all  the  drunkards  chained  by  their  intemperate 
habits,  of  inveterate  smokers  who  could  not  exist  without  tobacco,  and 
of  all  the  various  methods  by  which  men  were  slaves,  and  the  longing  to 
be  freed  of  what  had,  in  my  case,  proved  to  be  a  painful  and  unnecessary- 
habit  increased  daily  until,  after  one  night  when  I  struggled  with  my- 
self for  hours,  I  believed  I  had  finally  succeeded. 

"At  times  when  I  reached  a  high  degree  of  sexual  excitement  I 
felt  that  I  was  at  least  one  step  removed  from  those  of  morbid  and 
repressed  sex,  who  had  not  the  slightest  suspicion  of  the  latent  joys  of 
womanhood  within  them.  For  a  little  while  the  habit  took  the  shape 
of  an  exalted  passion,  but  I  rapidly  tired  it  out  by  roughs  thoughtless, 
and  too  impatient  handling.  Revulsion  set  in  with  the  pain  of  an  ex- 
hausted and  badly  used  nervous  system,  and  finding  myself  the  slave 
of  a  passion  I  determined  to  endeavor  to  be  its  master. 

"In  conclusion.  I  should  say  that  masturbation  has  proved  itself 
to  be  to  me  one  of  the  blind  turnings  of  mv  life's  historv  from  which 
I  have  gained  much  valuable  experience." 

The  practice  was,  however,  by  no  means  thus  dismissed.  Some 
time  later  the  subject  writes:  "I  have  again  restarted  masturbation  for 
the  relief  of  localized  feelings.  One  morning  I  was  engaged  reading  a 
very  heavy  volume  which,  for  convenience  sake,  I  held  in  my  lap, 
leaning  back  on  my  chair.  I  had  become  deep  in  my  study  for  an  liour 
or  so  when  I  became  aware  of  certain  feelings  roused  by  the  weight  of 
the  book.  Being  tempted  to  see  what  would  happen  by  such  conduct,  I 
shifted  so  that  the  edge  of  the  volume  came  in  closer  contact.  The 
pleasurable  feelings  increased,  so  I  gave  myself  up  to  my  emotions  for 
some  thirty  minutes. 

"Xotwithstanding  the  intense  pleasure  I  enjoyed  for  so  long  a  period, 
I  maintain  that  it  is  wiser  to  refrain,  and,  although  I  admit  in  the  same 
breath  that  by  gentle  treatment  such  pleasure  may  be  harmless  to  the 
general  health,  it  does  lead  to  a  desire  for  solitude  which  is  not  con- 
ducive to  a  happy  frame  of  mind.  There  is  an  accompanying  reticence 
of  speech  concerning  the  pleasure,  which  therefore  appears  to  be  un- 
natural, like  the  eating  of  stolen  fruit.     After  such  an  event  one  seems 


198  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

to  require  to  fly  to  the  woods  and  to  listen  to  the  song  of  the  birds  so 
as  to  shake  off  after-effects."' 

In  a  letter  dated  some  months  later  she  writes:  "I  think  I  have 
risen  above  the  masturbation  habit."  It  is  premature  to  say  whether 
this  belief  is  justified.  In  the  same  letter  the  writer  remarks:  "If  I  had 
consciously  abnormal  or  unsatisfied  appetites  I  would  satisfy  them  in 
tlie  easiest  and  least  harmful  way." 

I  am  indebted  to  a  correspondent,  who  has  himself  made  valuable 
contributions  to  our  knowledge  of  the  phenomena  of  sex,  for  the  follow- 
ing remarks:  "I  have  known  cases  of  masturbation  among  virgins,  wuves, 
and  women  living  apart  from  their  husbands  or  separated  from  lovers. 
Miss  A.,  who  has  frankly  responded  to  my  request  for  information,  and 
furnished  me  with  several  facts,  is  a  very  intellectual  woman,  a  close 
observer,  and  a  confident  of  her  sex.  She  confesses  that  the  habit  de- 
veloped in  her  own  ease  spontaneously  about  the  period  of  puberty. 
Many  women  have  spoken  to  her  upon  masturbation,  and  she  believes 
tliat  the  habit  is  more  common  among  adults  of  her  sex  than  people 
usually  suppose.  A  married  acquaintance  of  Miss  A.  told  her  that  she 
suffered  from  the  deprivation  of  intercourse  during  the  absence  of  her 
husband,  and  that  a  friend,  another  wife,  suggested  masturbation  with 
an  oiled  banana,  stating  that  she  employed  that  means  when  her  hus- 
band was  away  from  home  for  any  length  of  time;  she  knew  several 
women,  married  and  single,  who  used  the  same  method  of  satisfaction. 
JNliss  A.  states  that  many  Momen  prefer  digital  masturbation,  performed 
upon  them  by  the  husband,  to  the  normal  method  of  excitation." 

There  is  some  interest  in  briefly  reviewing  the  remarkable 
transformations  in  tlie  attitude  toward  masturbation  from  Greek 
times  down  to  our  own  day.  The  Greeks,  as  also  the  Romans, 
treated  masturbation  with  little  or  no  opprobrium.  They  con- 
templated it  with  almost  absolute  indifference,  sometimes  even 
with  approval,  for  Plutarch  tells  us  that  Diogenes — described  by 
Zcller,  th<j  historian  of  Greek  philosophy,  as  ''the  most  tyjiical 
figure  of  ancient  Greece" — was  praised  by  Chrysippus,  the  famous 
philosopher,  for  masturbating  in  the  market-place.  Areta^us, 
without  alluding  to  masturbation,  dwells  on  the  tonic  effects  of 
retaining  the  semen;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  Galen  regarded 
tlie  retention  of  semen  as  injurious,  and  advocated  its  fre- 
quent expulsion,  a  ])()iut  of  view  which  tended  to  justify  mas- 
turbation. In  classical  days,  doubtless,  mast url)al ion  and  all 
other  forms  of  the  auto-cM'otic  impulse  were  comparatively  rare. 


AUTO-EROTISM.  l'J9 

So  much  scope  was  allowed  in  early  adult  age  for  homosexual  and 
later  for  heterosexual  relationships  that  any  excessive  or  morbid 
development  of  solitary  self-indulgence  could  seldom  occur. 
Hence,  probably,  the  serene  indifference  with  which  the  ancients 
generally  viewed  masturbation.  The  case  was  altered  when  Chris- 
tian ideals  became  prominent.  Christian  morality  strongly  pro- 
scribed sexual  relationships  except  under  certain  specified  con- 
ditions. It  is  true  that  Christianity  discouraged  all  sexual  mani- 
festations, and  that  therefore  its  ban  fell  equally  on  masturbation, 
but  obviously  masturbation  lay  at  the  weakest  line  of  defence 
against  the  assaults  of  the  flesh;  it  was  there  that  resistance 
would  most  readily  yield.  Christianity  thus  probably  led  to  a 
considerable  increase  of  masturbation.  The  attention  which  the 
theologians  devoted  to  its  manifestations  clearly  bears  witness  to 
their  magnitude.  It  is  noteworthy  that  Mohammedan  theologians 
regarded  masturbation  as  a  Christian  vice.  In  Islam  both  doc- 
trine and  practice  tended  to  encourage  sexual  relationships,  and 
not  much  attention  was  paid  to  masturbation,  nor  even  any 
severe  reprobation  directed  against  it.  Omer  Haleby  remarks 
that  certain  theologians  of  Islam  are  inclined  to  consider  the 
practice  of  masturbation  in  vogue  among  Christians  as  allowable 
to  devout  Mussulmans  w^hen  alone  on  a  journey;  he  himself  re- 
gards this  as  a  practice  good  neither  for  soul  nor  body  (seminal 
emissions  during  sleep  providing  all  necessary  relief);  should, 
however,  a  Mussulman  fall  into  this  error,  God  is  merciful!^ 

In  Migne's  "Dictionnaire  de  Theologie  Morale,"  article  on  "Pollu- 
tion," which  appears  to  be  founded  chiefly  on  Mgr.  Gousset,  we  are  told, 
quoting  from  Gousset,  that  ''polhitio  seu  mollities  est  voluntaria  semi- 
nis  humani  effiisio  extra  congressum  cum  alio."  He  adds  that,  to  be  a 
sin,  it  must  be  voluntary.  If  it  occurs  sleeping  (or  waking  when  not 
directly  or  indirectly  voluntary)  it  cannot  be  sin.  According  to  St, 
Alphonse  de  Ligouri,  it  is  a  graver  sin  than  fornication,  for  it  may 
involve  sacrilege  and  adultery  or  sodomy.  Even  distillatio,  if  volun- 
tary and  with  a  notable  commotion  of  the  sexual  impulses,  is  without 
doubt  a  mortal  sin,  "quia  notahiUs  commotio  carnalis  est  pollutio 
inchoata."     If,   however,   distillatio   takes   place    without   commotion   or 


1  "El  Ktab,"  Traduction  de  Paul  de  Regla,  Paris,  1893. 


20{)  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

pleasure,  it  is  no  sin,  and,  in  the  opinion  of  Sanchez  and  others,  may 
be  regarded  simply  as  we  regard  sweat.  It  appears,  indeed,  that  some 
authorities  (like  Holzmann,  Sporer,  and  Elbel)  consider  that  it  may  be 
permitted  even  when  there  is  slight  commotion  of  the  flesh,  but  it  must 
never  be  voluntarily  procured.  Distillatio,  it  may  be  added,  is  defined 
by  Sanchez  as  ''humor  quidam  medUis  inter  urinam  et  semen,  qui  ex 
membro  pudcndo  procedii  ct  qui  scmini  est  similis  m  colore  et  in- 
fectione  carnisque  commotione  qua'  aliquando  ipsum  comitatur;  disimi- 
lis  autem  eo  quod  nan  sit  ita  mordax  ac  prossus  faciliusque  fluat  nee 
cum  tanta  carnis  commotione  et  in  minori  copia,  aliquando  impercepti- 
hilitcr  et  sine  carnis  motu."  It  is  thus  evident  that  the  old  theologians 
clearly  knew  the  difference  between  the  secretion  of  the  urethral  glands 
under  the  influence  of  voluptuous  excitement  and  the  flow  of  semen,  a 
distinction  that  is  not  understood  even  to-day  by  many  nervous  persons. 

Under  certain  circumstances  the  Catholic  theologians  have  per- 
mitted a  married  woman  to  masturbate.  Thus,  the  Jesuit  theologian, 
Gury,^  asserts  that  the  wife  does  not  sin  "quw  se  ipsam  tactibus  excitat 
ad  seminationem  statim  post  copulam  in  qua  vir  solus  seminavity 
This  teaching  seems  to  have  been  misunderstood,  since  ethical  and  even 
medical  writers  have  expended  a  certain  amount  of  moral  indignation 
on  the  Church  whose  theologians  committed  themselves  to  this  state- 
ment. As  a  matter  of  fact,  this  qualified  permission  to  masturbate 
merely  rests  on  a  false  theory  of  procreation,  which  is  clearly  expressed 
in  the  word  seminatio.  It  was  believed  that  ejaculation  in  the  woman 
is  as  necessary  to  fecundation  as  ejaculation  in  the  man.  As  sexual 
intercourse  A\ithout  fecundation  ^s  not  approved  by  the  Catholic  church, 
it  thus  became  logically  necessary  to  permit  women  to  masturbate  when- 
ever the  ejaculation  of  mucus  had  not  occurred  at  or  before  coitus. 

The  belief  that  the  emission  of  vagina]  mucus  under  the  influence 
of  sexual  excitement  in  women  corresponded  to  spermatic  emission  has 
led  to  the  practice  of  masturbation  on  hygienic  grounds.  Carnier 
("Celibat,"  p.  255)  mentions  that  Mesne,  in  the  eighteenth  century, 
invented  a  special  pessary  to  take  the  place  of  the  penis,  and,  as  he 
stated,  effect  the  due  expulsion  of  tlic  feminine  sperm. 

Protestantism,  no  doubt,  in  the  main  accepted  the  general 
Catholic  tradition,  but  the  tendency  of  Protestantism,  in  reaction 
against  the  minute  inquisition  of  the  earlier  theologians,  has 
always  been  to  exercise  a  certain  degree  of  what  it  regarded  as 
wholesome  indifTcrence  toward  the  less  obvious  manifestations  of 
the  flesh.     Tims  in  Pi'otcstnnt  countries  mastnr])ation  seems  to 


'  "Comjiend.  Theolog.  mor.,"'  volume  ii,  }).  417 


AUTO-EROTISM.  201 

have  been  almost  ignored  until  Tissot,  combining  with  his  repu- 
tation as  a  physician  the  fanaticism  of  a  devout  believer,  raised 
masturbation  to  the  position  of  a  colossal  bogy  which  during  a 
hundred  years  has  not  only  had  an  unfortunate  influence  on 
medical  opinion  in  these  matters,  but  has  been  productive  of 
incalculable  harm  to  ignorant  youth  and  tender  consciences. 
During  the  past  thirty  years  the  efforts  of  many  distinguished 
physicians — a  few  of  whose  opinions  I  have  already  quoted — have 
gradually  dragged  the  bogy  down  from  its  pedestal,  and  now,  as 
I  have  ventured  to  suggest,  there  is  a  tendency  for  the  reaction 
to  be  excessive.  There  is  even  a  tendency  to-day  to  regard  mas- 
turbation, with  various  qualifications,  as  normal.  Tillier,  for  in- 
stance, remarks  that  since  masturbation  appears  to  be  universal 
among  the  higher  animals  we  are  not  entitled  to  regard  it  a-  a 
vice;  it  has  only  been  so  considered  because  studied  exclusively 
by  physicians  under  abnormal  conditions.^  Venturi,  a  well- 
known  Italian  alienist,  regards  masturbation  as  strictly  physio- 
logical in  youth;  it  is  the  normal  and  natural  passage  toward  the 
generous  and  healthy  passion  of  early  manhood;  it  only  becomes 
abnormal  and  vicious,  he  holds,  when  continued  into  adult  life. 

The  appearance  of  masturbation  of  puberty,  Venturi  considers,  "is 
a  moment  in  the  course  of  the  development  of  the  function  of  that  organ 
which  is  the  necessary  instrument  of  sexuality."  We  find  the  first  true 
manifestations  of  love  appearing  together  with  onanism,  which  is  usually 
continued  in  a  physiological  way.  though  modified,  into  youth,  and 
often  through  a  great  part  of  youth,  according  as  this  is  precocious  or 
retarded.  Onanism  in  early  adolescence  begins  Avith  being  a  pleasurable 
act,  having  rudimentary  roots  in  childhood,  and  finds  its  motive,  not  in 
distinct  erotic  images,  but  in  the  satisfaction  of  an  organic  need,  un- 
known and  undetermined,  certainly  of  sexual  character,  but  at  this 
stage  of  consciousness  simply  seeming  to  be  a  source  of  physical  pleasure 
having  much  analogy  with  that  which  arises  from  the  tickling  of  a 
very  sensitive  cutaneous  surface.  In  this  onanism  of  early  adolescence 
lies  the  germ  of  what  will  later  be  love:  a  pleasure  of  the  body  and 
of  the  spirit  following  the  relief  of  a  satisfied  need."  "As  the  youth 
develops,  onanism  becomes  a  sexual  act  comparable  to  coitus  as  a  dream 
is  comparable  to  reality,  imagery  forming  in  correspondence  with  the  de- 


^  Tillier.  "L'Tnstinct  Sexuel,"  Paris,  1889,  p.  270. 


20"2  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

sires.  In  its  fully  developed  form  in  adolescence.'"  Venturi  continues, 
"masturbation  has  an  almost  hallucinatory  character;  onanism  at  this 
period  psychically  approximates  to  the  true  sexual  act  and  passes  in- 
sensibly into  it.  If.  however,  continued  on  into  adult  age,  it  becomes 
morbid,  passing  into  erotic  fetichism ;  what  in  the  inexperienced  youth 
is  the  natural  auxiliary  and  stimulus  to  imagination,  in  the  degenerate 
onanist  of  adult  age  is  a  sign  of  arrested  development.  Thus  onanism." 
the  author  concludes,  "is  not  always  a  vice  such  as  is  fiercely  combated 
by  educators  and  moralists.  It  is  the  natural  transition  by  which  Me 
reach  the  warm  and  generous  love  of  youth,  and  in  natural  succession 
to  this  the  tranquil,  positive,  matrimonial  love  of  the  mature  man." 
(Silvio  Venturi,  "Le  Degenerazioni   Psico-sessuale,"   1892.  pp.  6-9.) 

It  may  be  questioned  whether  this  view  is  acceptable  even  for  the 
warm  climate  of  the  south  of  Europe,  where  the  impulses  of  sexuality 
are  undoubtedly  precocious.  It  is  certainly  not  in  harmony  with  gen- 
eral experience  and  opinion  in  the  north:  this  is  well  expressed  in  the 
following  passage  by  a  recent  writer  (E.  Carpenter,  International  Jour- 
nal of  Ethics,  Juh',  1899)  :  "After  all.  purity  (in  the  sense  of  conti- 
nence) is  of  the  first  importance  to  boyhood.  To  prolong  the  period 
of  continence  in  a  boy's  life  is  to  prolong  the  period  of  growth.  This  is 
a  simple  physiological  law,  and  a  very  obvious  one:  and.  whatever  other 
things  may  be  said  in  favor  of  purity,  it  remains,  perhaps,  the  most 
weighty.  To  introduce  sensual  and  sexual  habits — and  one  of  the  worst 
of  them  is  self-abuse — at  an  early  age  is  to  arrest  growth,  both  physical 
and  mental.  And  what  is  even  more,  it  means  to  arrest  the  capacity 
for  affection.  All  experience  shows  that  the  early  outlet  toward  sex 
cheapens  and  weakens  aflfectional  capacity." 

I  do  not  consider  that  we  can  decide  the  precise  degree  in 
which  masturbation  may  fairly  be  called  normal  so  long  as  we 
take  masturbation  by  itself.  We  are  thus,  in  conclusion,  brought 
back  to  the  point  which  I  sought  to  emphasize  at  the  outset: 
masturbation  belongs  to  a  group  of  auto-erotic  phenomena. 
From  one  point  of  view  it  may  be  said  that  all  auto-erotic  phe- 
nomena are  unnatural,  since  the  natural  aim  of  the  sexual  im- 
pulse is  sexual  conjunction,  and  all  exercise  of  that  impulse  out- 
side such  conjunction  is  away  from  the  end  of  Xature.  But  we 
do  not  live  in  a  state  of  Xature  which  answers  to  such  demands; 
all  our  life  is  "unnatural."  And  as  soon  as  we  begin  to  restrain 
the  free  play  of  sexual  impulse  toward  sexual  ends,  at  once  auto- 
erotic  phenomena  inevitably  spring  up  on  every  side.  There  is 
no  end  to  them;   it  is  impos.«ible  to  say  what  finest  elements  in 


AUTO-EROTISM.  203 

art,  in  morals,  in  civilization  generally,  may  not  really  be  rooted 
in  an  auto-erotic  impulse.  Auto-erotic  phenomena  are  inevitable. 
Our  first  duty  is  to  investigate  the  nature  and  results  of  the  mani- 
festations among  all  classes  of  people.  It  is  as  a  preliminary  con- 
tribution to  that  inquiry  that  I  present  this  "Study. "^  In  the 
meanwhile  it  is  our  wisest  course  to  recognize  the  inevitableness 
of  such  manifestations  under  the  perpetual  restraints  of  civilized 
life,  and,  while  avoiding  any  attitude  of  excessive  indulgence  or 
indifference,-  to  avoid  also  any  attitude  of  excessive  horror,  for 
our  horror  not  only  leads  to  the  facts  being  effectually  veiled 
from  our  sight,  but  itself  serves  to  manufacture  artificially  a 
greater  evil  than  that  which  we  seek  to  combat. 

The  sexual  impulse  is  not,  as  some  have  imagined,  the  sole 
root  of  the  most  massive  human  emotions,  the  most  brilliant 
human  aptitudes, — of  sympathy,  of  art,  of  religion.  In  the  com- 
plex human  organism,  where  all  the  parts  are  so  many-fibred  and 
so  closely  interwoven,  no  great  manifestation  can  be  reduced  to 
one  single  source.  But  it  largely  enters  into  and  molds  all  of 
these  emotions  and  aptitudes,  and  that,  by  virtue  of  its  two  most 
peculiar  characteristics,  it  is,  in  the  first  place,  the  deepest  and 
most  volcanic  of  human  impulses,  and,  in  the  second  place, — un- 
like the  only  other  human  impulse  with  which  it  can  be  com- 
pared, the  nutritive  impulse, — it  can,  to_  a  large  extent,  be  trans- 
muted into  a  new  force  capable  of  the  strangest  and  most  various 
uses.  So  that  in  the  presence  of  all  these  manifestations  we  may 
assert  that  in  a  real  sense,  though  subtly  mingled  with  very 
diverse  elements,  auto-erotism  everywhere  plays  its  part.  In  the 
phenomena  of  auto-erotism,  when  we  take  a  broad  view  of  those 
phenomena,  we  are  concerned,  not  with  a  form  of  insanity,  not 


^  With  the  question  as  to  the  best  practical  methods  of  obtaining 
completely  satisfactory  data  regarding  the  prevalence  of  auto-erotic  phe- 
nomena among  the  population  generally,  I  do  not  here  purpose  to  deal. 
A  large  and  comprehensive  scheme,  as  regards  masturbation,  has  already 
been  proposed  by  Hermann  Colin,  but  I  do  not  know  that  any  results 
have  yet  been  attained  by  it. 

-  In  the  course  of  a  recent  and  valuable  work  on  the  sexual  in- 
stinct Fere  states  that  my  conclusion  is  that  masturbation  is  normal 
and  that  "Vindulgence  sHmpo^e"  ("L'lnstinct  Sexuel").  I  had.  however, 
already  guarded  myself  against  this  misinterpretation. 


204  PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SEX. 

necessarily  with  a  form  of  depravity,  but  with  the  inevitable  by- 
products of  that  mighty  process  on  which  the  animal  creation 
rests. 


APPEXDIXES. 
APPENDIX  A. 


THE  INFLUEXCE  OF  MENSTRUATIOX  OX  THE 
POSITIOX  OF  WOMEX. 


A  QUESTION  of  historical  psychology  which,  so  far  as  I 
know,  has  never  been  fully  investigated  is  the  influence  of  men- 
struation in  constituting  the  emotional  atmosphere  through 
which  men  habitually  view  women.  I  do  not  purpose  to  deal  fully 
with  this  question,  because  it  is  one  which  may  be  more  properly 
dealt  ^nth  at  length  by  the  student  of  culture  and  by  the  his- 
torian, rather  than  from  the  stand-point  of  empirical  psychology. 
But  we  here  strike  on  a  factor  of  such  importance,  such  neglected 
importance,  for  the  proper  understanding  of  the  sexual  relations 
of  men  and  women,  that  it  cannot  be  wholly  ignored. 

It  is  the  more  necessary  to  consider  briefly  the  influence  of 
menstruation  on  the  development  of  men^s  emotional  attitude 
toward  women,  since  many  of  the  current  and  even  scientific  views 
of  the  matter  are  almost  certainly  erroneous.  For  instance,  it 
is  commonly  stated  or  implied  that,  in  the  primitive  and  popular 
feeling,  menstruation  stands  as  the  symbol  of  a  fundamental 
weakness,  impurity,  and  inferiority  of  women.  That  was  cer- 
tainly the  view  of  many  medieval  monks,  and  it  has  been  seriously 
maintained  in  recent  years  as  a  complete  account  of  the  matter. 
Thus,  Crawley,  in  a  somewhat  elaborate  study  of  this  and  allied 
questions,  argues  that  ^'man  predicates  of  woman  both  weakness 
and  social  inferiority.''  This  attribution  of  inferiority  to  the  fe- 
male sex  he  takes  to  be  a  universal  subjective  conception  probably 
due  to  the  superior  strength  and  staj;ure  of  men.    The  main  factor 

(205) 


20G  APPENDIX    A. 

in  the  constitution  of  the  prohibitions  and  restrictions  surround- 
ing women,  according  to  this  author,  is  the  belief  that  feminine 
properties,  especially  weakness,  timidity,  and  inferiority,  are 
transmitted  by  contact/  Crawley  supports  these  views  by  copious 
facts,  taken  from  travelers  and  anthropologists,  concerning  the 
attitude  of  savages.  It  may  certainly  be  said  that  he  proves  con- 
clusively that  such  ideas  do  actually  form  one  widely  prevalent 
element  in  the  primitive  attitude  of  men  toward  women.  But 
it  is  not  difficult  to  see  that  this  explanation  is  far  from  account- 
ing for  the  whole  of  the  facts. 

Among  the  negroes  of  Surinam  a  woman  must  live  in  soli- 
tude during  the  time  of  her  period;  it  is  dangerous  for  any  man 
or  woman  to  approach  her,  and  when  she  sees  a  person  coming 
near  she  cries  out  anxiously:  '^Mi  l'ay\  Mi  IcayV' — I  am  unclean! 
I  am  unclean  I  Throughout  the  world  we  find  traces  of  the  cus- 
tom of  which  this  is  a  typical  example,  and  it  is  common  to  regard 
this  custom  as  evidence  of  the  degraded  position  occupied  by 
primitive  women.  A  serious  fallacy  underlies  this  belief,  as  may 
be  clearly  seen  when  we  take  a  broad  view,  not  only  of  the  beliefs 
of  primitive  man  regarding  menstruation,  but  of  his  general  be- 
liefs regarding  the  supernatural  forces  of  the  world. 

There  is  no  fragment  of  folk-lore  so  familiar  to  the  European 
world  as  that  which  connects  woman  with  the  serpent.  It  is, 
indeed,  one  of  the  foundation-stones  of  Christian  theology.-  Yet 
there  is  no  fragment  of  folk-lore  which  remains  more  obscure. 
How  has  it  happened  that  in  all  parts  of  the  world  the  snake  or 
his  congeners,  the  lizard  and  the  crocodile,  have  b^en  credited 
with  some  design,  sinister  or  erotic,  on  Avomen? 

Of  the  wide  provalcnce  of  the  boliof  there  can  be  no  doubt. 


'  A.  E.  Craw  lov,  "Sexual  Taboo,"  Journal  of  the  Anthropoloprical 
Institute.  1894-05. 

-  Robertson  Siiiitli  points  out  that  since  snakes  are  the  hist  noxious 
animals  which  man  is  able  to  exterminate  they  are  the  last  to  be  asso- 
ciated with  (lemons.  Tlicv  were  ultimately  the  only  animals  directly 
and  constantly  associated  with  tlie  Arabian  jhm,  or  demon,  and  the 
serpent  of  Eden  was  «a  demon,  and  not  a  tem])orary  dispfuise  of  Satan 
("l'elijri(ni  of  Semites."  ]ip.  120  and  112).  Perhaps  it  was  in  ])art  because 
the  snake  was  thus  the  last  embodiment  of  demonic  j)Ower  that  women 
were  associated  with  it,  women  bein<r  always  connected  with  the  most 
ancient    reliirious  beliefs.  • 


MENSTRUATION    AND    THE    POSITION    OF    WOMEN.  207 

Among  the  Port  Lincoln  tribe  of  Sonth  Australia  a  lizard  is  said 
to  have  divided  man  from  woman. ^  Among  the  Chirigiianos  of 
Bolivia,  on  the  appearance  of  menstruation,  old  women  ran  about 
with  sticks  to  hunt  the  snake  that  had  wounded  the  girl.  Frazer, 
who  quotes  this  example  from  the  "Lettres  edifiantes  et  cwieuses," 
also  refers  to  a  modern  Greek  folk-tale,  according  to  which 
a  princess  at  puberty  must  not  let  the  sun  shine  upon  her,  or  she 
would  be  turned  into  a  lizard.-  In  some  parts  of  Brazil  at  the 
onset  of  puberty  a  girl  must  not  go  into  the  woods  for  fear  of 
the  amorous  attacks  of  snakes,  and  so  it  is  also  among  the  Macusi 
Indians  of  British  Guiana,  according  to  Schomburgk.  Among 
the  Basutos  of  South  Africa  the  young  girls  must  dance  around 
the  clay  image  of  a  snake.  In  Polynesian  mythology  the  lizard 
is  a  very  sacred  animal,  and  legends  represent  women  as  often 
giving  birth  to  lizards.^  In  the  Berlin  Museum  fiir  Volker- 
kunde  there  is  a  carved  wooden  figure  from  New  Guinea  of  a 
woman  into  whose  vulva  a  crocodile  is  inserting  his  snout,  while 
the  same  museum  contains  another  figure  of  a  snake-like  croco- 
dile crawling  out  of  a  woman's  vulva,  and  a  third  figure  shows 
a  small  round  snake  with  a  small  head,  and  closely  resem- 
bling a  penis,  at  the  mouth  of  the  vagina.  All  these  figures  are 
reproduced  by  Ploss  and  Bartels.  Even  in  modern  Europe  the 
same  ideas  prevail.  In  Portugal,  according  to  Reys,  it  is  believed 
that  during  menstruation  women  are  liable  to  be  bitten  by  lizards, 
and  to  guard  against  this  risk  they  wear  drawers  during  the 
period.  In  Germany,  again,  it  was  believed,  up  to  the  eighteenth 
century  at  least,  that  the  hair  of  a  menstruating  woman,  if  buried, 
would  turn  into  a  snake.  It  may  be  added  that  in  various  parts 
of  the  world  virgin  priestesses  are  dedicated  to  a  snake-god  and 
are  married  to  the  god."*     At  Eome.  it  i?  interesting  to  note,  the 


^  In  the  northern  territory  of  the  same  colony  menstruation  is  said 
to  be  due  to  a  bandicoot  scratching  the  vagina  and  causing  blood  to  flow 
(Journal  of  the  Anthropological  Institute,  p.  177.  November,  1894). 

-Frazer.  "Golden  Bough."  vol.  ii.  p.  231. 

^  Meyners  d'Estrez.  "Etude  ethnographique  sur  le  lezard  chez  les 
peuples  malais  et  polynesiens,"  L'Anthropologie.  1892;  see  also,  as  re- 
gards the  lizard  in  Samoan  folk-lore,  Globus,  vol.  Ixxiv,  No.  16. 

*  Boudin  ("Etude  Anthropologique:  Culte  du  Serpent."  Paris,  1864, 
pp.  66-70)  brings  forward  examples  of  this  aspect  of  snake- worship. 


208  APPENDIX    A. 

serpent  was  the  symbol  of  fecundation,  and  as  such  often  figures 
at  Pompeii  as  the  genius  patrisfamilias,  the  generative  power  of 
the  family.^  In  Rabbinical  tradition,  also,  the  serpent  is  the 
symbol  of  sexual  desire. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that — as  Ploss  and  Bartels,  from 
whom  some  of  these  examples  have  been  taken,  point  out — in 
widely  different  parts  of  the  world  menstruation  is  belieyed  to 
have  been  originally  caused  by  a  snake,  and  that  this  conception 
is  frequently  associated  with  an  erotic  and  mystic  idea.  How 
the  connection  arose  Ploss  and  Bartels  are  unable  to  say.  It  can 
only  be  suggested  that  the  shape  and  appearance  of  the  snake,- 
as  well  as  its  yenomous  nature,  may  have  contributed  to  the  mys- 
tery everywhere  associated  with  the  snake — a  mystery  itself  forti- 
fied by  the  association  with  women — to  build  up  this  world-wide 
belief  regarding  the  origin  of  menstruation. 

This  primitive  theory  of  the  origin  of  menstruation  prob- 
ably brings  before  us  in  its  earliest  shape  the  special  and  intimate 
bond  which  has  ever  been  held  to  connect  women,  by  virtue  of 
the  menstrual  process,  with  the  natural  or  supernatural  powers 
of  the  world.  Everywhere  menstruating  women  arc  supposed  to 
be  possessed  by  spirits  and  charged  with  mysterious  forces.  It 
is  at  this  point  that  a  serious  misconception,  due  to  ignorance 
of  primitive  religious  ideas,  has  constantly  intruded.  It  is  stated 
that  the  menstruating  woman  is  ^'unclean"  and  possessed  by  an 
evil  spirit.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  the  savage  rarely  dis- 
criminates between  bad  and  good  spirits.  Every  spirit  may  have 
either  a  beneficial  or  malignant  influence.  An  interesting  in- 
stance of  this  is  given  in  Colenso's  "^laori  Lexicon."  The  Maoris 
call  their  gods  Atiias,  and  Atua  is  consequently  the  word  used 
by  the  missionaries  to  designate  the  Christian  God.  But  the 
meaning  of  the  word  seems  to  be  primarily  something  exceed- 
ingly great  and  terrible,  and  the  Maori  gods  and  demons,  though 
worshiped,  were  also  often  bated  and  even  tliroatened.  ])y  their 


^  Attilio  de  Marclii.  "11  Cullo  piiviilo  di  Konia."  p.  74. 

^  It  is  notowortliy  that  ono  of  tlio  names  for  the  penis  used  by  tho 
Swaliili  woTiicn  of  (IcrTnnn  East  Africa,  in  a  kind  of  privnio  laniruafro  of 
Ihcir  own,  is  "tlic  snako"  (Zaclio,  Zcitscluift  fiir  Ellinoloiric  p.  IW,  1S09). 


MENSTRUATION    AND    THE    POSITION    OF    WOMEN.  209 

worshipers.  Personified  disease,  pain,  and  death  were  ail  aluas, 
as  also  were  all  foods  that  must  be  avoided,  everything  mon- 
strous, uncanny,  or  unlucky;  and,  as  another  authority  on  the 
Maoris  (Tregear)  tells  us,  the  menstrual  cloths  of  the  women  were 
very  dangerous  and  unlucky.  Thus,  a  woman  must  not  be  re- 
garded as  reduced  by  the  process  of  menstruation  to  a  state  of 
degradation  and  impurity,  as  an  instrument  in  the  hands  of  evil 
powers,  but  merely  as  lifted  into  the  region  which  is  inhabited 
by  all  the  supernatural  powers  of  the  world. 

The  importance  of  recognizing  the  special  sense  in  which  the 
word  "unclean"  is  used  in  this  connection  was  clearly  pointed  out 
by  Eobertson  Smith  in  the  case  of  the  Semites.  "The  Hebrew 
word  tame  (unclean),"  he  remarked,  "is  not  the  ordinary  word 
for  things  physically  foul;  it  is  a  ritual  term,  and  corresponds 
exactly  to  the  idea  of  tahoo.  The  ideas  ^unclean'  and  ^holy'  seem 
to  us  to  stand  in  polar  opposition  to  one  another,  but  it  was  not 
so  with  the  Semites.  Among  the  later  Jews  the  Holy  Books 
^defiled  the  hands'  of  the  reader  as  contact  with  an  impure  thing 
did;  among  Lucian's  Syrians  the  dove  was  so  holy  that  he  who 
touched  it  was  unclean  for  a  day;  and  the  taboo  attaching  to  the 
swine  was  explained  by  some,  and  beyond  question  correctly  ex- 
plained, in  the  same  way.  x^mong  the  heathen  Semites,  there- 
fore, unclean  animals,  which  it  was  pollution  to  eat,  were  simply 
holy  animals."^  Robertson  Smith  here  made  no  reference  to  men- 
struation, but  he  exactly  described  the  primitive  attitude  toward 
menstruation.  Wellhausen,  however,  dealing  with  the  early 
Arabians,  expressly  mentions  that  in  pre-Islamic  days,  "clean" 
and  "unclean"  were  used  solely  with  reference  to  women  in  and 
out  of  the  menstrual  state.  At  a  later  date  Frazer- developed  this 
aspect  of  the  conception  of  taboo,  and  showed  how  it  occurs 
among  savage  races  generally.    He  pointed  out  that  the  concep- 


'  W.  R,  Smith.  "Kinship  and  Marriage  in  Early  Arabia,"  1885,  p. 
307.  The  point  is  elaborated  in  the  same  author's  "Religion  of  Semites," 
second  edition,  appendix  on  "Holiness.  Uncleannoss.  and  Taboo,"  pp.  446- 
54.  See  also  Wellhausen,  "Reste  Arabischen  Heidentums,"  second  edi- 
tion, pp.  167-77.  Even  to  the  early  Arabians,  Wellhausen  remarks  (p. 
168),  "clean"  meant  "profane  and  allowed,"  while  "unclean"  meant 
"sacred  and  forbidden."  It  Avas  the  same,  as  Jastrow  remarks  ("Religion 
of  Babylonia,"  p.  662),  among  the  Babylonian  Semites. 

14 


21{)  APPENDIX   A. 

tions  of  holiness  and  pollution  not  having  yet  been  differentiated, 
women  at  childbirth  and  during  menstruation  are  on  the  same 
level  as  divine  kings,  chiefs,  and  priests,  and  must  observe  the 
same  rules  of  ceremonial  purity.  To  seclude  such  persons  from 
the  rest  of  the  world,  so  that  the  dreaded  spiritual  danger  shall 
not  reach  them  nor  spread  from  them,  is  the  object  of  the  taboo, 
which  Frazer  compares  to  '^an  electrical  insulator  to  preserve  the 
spiritual  force  with  which  these  persons  are  charged  from  suffer- 
ing or  inflicting  harm  by  contact  with  the  outer  world/'  After 
describing  the  phenomena  (especially  the  prohibition  to  touch 
the  ground  or  see  the  sun)  found  among  various  races,  Frazer 
concludes:  "The  object  of  secluding  women  at  menstruation  is 
to  neutralize  the  dangerous  influences  which  are  supposed  to 
emanate  from  them  at  such  times.  The  general  eft'ect  of  these 
rules  is  to  keep  the  girl  suspended,  so  to  say,  between  heaven  and 
earth.  Whether  enveloped  in  her  hammock  and  slung  up  to  the 
roof,  as  in  South  America,  or  elevated  above  the  ground  in  a 
dark  and  narrow  cage,  as  in  New  Zealand,  she  may  be  considered 
to  be  out  of  the  way  of  doing  mischief,  since,  being  shut  off  both 
from  the  earth  and  from  the  sun,  she  can  poison  neither  of  these 
great  sources  of  life  by  her  deadly  contagion.  The  precautions 
thus  taken  to  isolate  or  insulate  the  girl  are  dictated  by  regard 
for  her  own  safety  as  well  as  for  the  safety  of  others.  .  .  . 
In  short,  the  girl  is  viewed  as  charged  with  a  powerful  force  which, 
if  not  kept  within  bounds,  may  prove  the  destruction  both  of 
the  girl  herself  and  of  all  with  whom  she  comes  in  contact.  To 
repress  this  force  within  the  limits  necessary  for  the  safety  of 
all  concerned  is  the  object  of  the  taboos  in  question.  The  same 
explanation  applies  to  the  observance  of  the  same  rules  by  divine 
kings  and  priests.  The  unclcanlincss,  as  it  is  called,  of  girls  at 
puberty  and  the  sanctity  of  holy  men  do  not,  to  the  primitive 
mind,  difl'er  from  each  other.  They  are  only  different  mani- 
festations of  the  same  supernatural  ejiergy,  which,  like  energy 
in  general,  is  in  itself  neither  good  nor  bad,  but  becomes  benef- 
icent or  malignant  according  to  its  application."^ 


•J.  r;.  Frazer,  "The  Golden  Bough,"  Chapter  IV. 


MENSTRUATION    AND    THE    POSITION    OF    WOMEN.  211 

More  recently  this  view  of  the  matter  has  been  further  ex- 
tended by  a  French  sociologist,  Durkheim.  Investigating  the 
origins  of  the  prohibition  of  incest  (which  Westermarck  and 
others  have  been  content  to  regard  as  an  "instinct"),  and  arguing 
that  it  proceeds  from  the  custom  of  exogamy  (or  marriage  out- 
side the  clan),  and  that  this  rests  on  certain  ideas  about  blood, 
which,  again,  are  traceable  to  totemism, — a  theory  which  we  need 
not  here  discuss, — Durkheim  is  brought  face  to  face  with  the 
group  of  conceptions  that  now  concern  us.  He  insists  on  the 
extreme  ambiguity  found  in  primitive  culture  concerning  the 
notion  of  the  divine,  and  the  close  connection  between  aversion 
and  veneration,  and  points  out  that  it  is  not  only  at  puberty  and 
each  recurrence  of  the  menstrual  epoch  that  women  have  aroused 
these  emotions,  but  also  at  childbirth.  "A  sentiment  of  religious 
horror,"  he  continues,  "which  can  reach  such  a  degree  of  in- 
tensity, which  can  be  called  forth  by  so  many  circumstances,  and 
reappears  regularly  every  month  to  last  for  a  week  at  least,  can- 
not fail  to  extend  its  influence  beyond  the  periods  to  which  it 
was  originally  confined,  and  to  affect  the  whole  course  of  life. 
A  being  who  must  be  secluded  or  avoided  for  weeks,  months,  or 
years  preserves  something  of  the  characteristics  to  which  the 
isolation  was  due,  even  outside  those  special  periods,  i^nd,  in 
fact,  in  these  communities,  the  separation  of  the  sexes  is  not 
merely  intermittent;  it  has  become  chronic.  The  two  elements 
of  the  population  live  separately."  Durkheim  proceeds  to  show 
that  the  origin  of  the  occult  powers  attributed  to  the  feminine 
organism  is  to  be  found  in  primitive  ideas  concerning  blood.  It 
is  not  only  menstrual  blood;  any  kind  of  blood  is  the  object  of 
similar  feelings  among  savage  and  barbarous  peoples.  All  sorts 
of  precautions  must  be  observed  with  regard  to  blood;  in  it  re- 
sides a  divine  principle,  or,  as  Romans,  Jews,  and  Arabs  believed, 
life  itself.  The  prohibition  to  drink  wine,  the  blood  of  the  grape, 
found  among  some  peoples,  is  traced  to  its  resemblance  to  blood, 
and  to  its  sacrificial  employment  (as  among  the  ancient  Arabians 
and  still  in  the  Christian  sacrament)  as  a  substitute  for  drinking 
blood.  Throughout,  blood  is  generally  taboo,  and  it  taboos  every- 
thing that  comes  in  contact  with  it.    Now  woman  is  chronically 


212  APPENDIX    A. 

"the  theatre  of  bloody  manifestations,"  and  therefore  she  tends 
to  become  chronically  taboo  for  the  other  members  of  the  com- 
munity. ^'A  more  or  less  conscious  anxietv,  a  certain  relicrious 
fear,  cannot  fail  to  enter  into  all  the  relations  of  her  companions 
with  her,  and  that  is  why  all  such  relations  are  reduced  to  a  mini- 
mum. Relations  of  a  sexual  character  are  specially  excluded.  In 
the  first  place,  such  relations  are  so  intimate  that  they  are  incom- 
patible with  the  sort  of  repulsion  which  the  sexes  must  experi- 
ence for  each  other;  the  barrier  between  them  does  not  permit 
of  such  a  close  union.  In  the  second  place,  the  organs  of  the 
body  here  specially  concerned  are  precisely  the  source  of  the 
dreaded  manifestations.  Thus  it  is  natural  that  the  feelings  of 
aversion  inspired  by  women  attain  their  greatest  intensity  at  this 
point.  Thus  it  is,  also,  that  of  all  parts  of  the  feminine  organ- 
ization it  is  this  region  which  is  most  severely  shut  out  from 
commerce."  So  that,  while  the  primitive  emotion  is  mainly  one 
of  veneration,  and  is  allied  to  that  experienced  for  kings  and 
priests,  there  is  an  element  of  fear  in  such  veneration,  and  what 
men  fear  is  to  some  extent  odious  to  them.^ 

The  justice  of  this  view  is  evident  when  we  review  the  whole 
group  of  influences  which  the  menstruating  woman  is  supposed 
to  exert.  She  by  no  means  acts  only  by  paralyzing  social  activi- 
ties and  destroying  the  powers  of  life,  by  causing  flowers  to  fade, 
fruit  to  fall  from  the  trees,  grains  to  lose  their  germinative  power, 
and  grafts  to  die.  She  is  not  accurately  summed  up  in  the  old 
lines: — 

**0h!    menstruating  woman,  thou'it  a  fiend 
From  whom  all  nature  should  be  closely  screened. '" 

Her  powers  are  also  beneficial.  A  woman  at  this  time,  as 
^■Elian  expressed  it,  is  in  regular  communication  with  the  starry 
bodies.  Even  at  other  times  a  woman  when  led  naked  around 
the  orchard  protected  it  from  caterpillars,  said  Pliny,  and  this 
belief  is  acted  upon  (according  to  Bastanzi)  even  in  the  Italy  of 
to-dav.     A  uarment  stained  with  a  viririn's  menstrual  blood,  it 


'  E.    Durkheim.      'l.a     Prohibition     de     rince>te    ot     =e<    Orijrines." 
L'Annee  Sooiolocrique.  Premiere  Ann<?e.  1S9S.  esp.  pp.  44.  4fi-47.  4S.  ."SO-.^T. 


MENSTRUATION    AND    THE    POSITION    OF    WOMEN.  213 

is  said  in  Bavaria,  is  a  certain  safeguard  against  cuts  and  stabs. 
It  will  also  extinguish  fire.  It  was  valuable  as  a  love-philter; 
as  a  medicine  its  uses  have  been  endless.^  A  sect  of  Valentinians 
even  attributed  sacramental  virtues  to  menstrual  blood,  and  par- 
took of  it  as  the  blood  of  Christ.^ 

In  our  own  time  the  slow  disintegration  of  primitive  ani- 
mistic conceptions,  aided  certainly  by  the  degraded  conception 
of  sexual  phenomena  taught  by  medieval  monks — for  whom 
woman  was  "templum  cedificatum  super  cloacam^' — has  led  to  a 
disbelief  in  the  more  salutary  influences  of  the  menstruating 
woman.  A  fairly  wide-spread  faith  in  her  pernicious  influence 
alone  survives.  It  may  be  traced  even  in  practical  and  com- 
mercial— one  might  add,  medical — quarters.  In  the  great  sugar- 
refineries  in  the  North  of  France  the  regulations  strictly  forbid 
a  woman  to  enter  the  factory  while  the  sugar  is  boiling  or  cool- 
ing, the  reason  given  being  that,  if  a  woman  were  to  enter  during 
her  period,  the  sugar  would  blacken.  For  the  same  reason — to 
turn  to  the  East — no  woman  is  employed  in  the  opium  manu- 
factory at  Saigon,  it  being  said  that  the  opium  would  turn  and 
become  bitter,  while  Annamite  women  say  that  it  is  very  difficult 
for  them  to  prepare  opium-pipes  during  the  catamenial  neriod.*^ 


'  See  Bourke.  "Seatalogie  Rites  of  all  Nations,"  1891.  pp.  217-219, 
250  and  254;  Floss  and  Max  Bavtels,  "Das  Weib,"  vol.  i;  H.  L.  Strack, 
"Dor  Blutaberfijlaube  in  dor  Menschlieit,"  fourth  edition,  1892,  pp.  14-18. 
The  last  mentioned  refers  to  the  efficacy  frequently  attributed  to  men- 
strual blood  in  the  middle  ages  in  curing  leprosy,  and  gives  instances, 
occurring  even  in  Germany  to-day,  of  girls  who  have  administered  drops 
of  menstrual  blood  in  coffee  to  their  sweethearts  to  make  sure  of  retain- 
ing their  affections. 

■'  Pliny,  Avho  in  Book  VII,  Chapter  XIII,  and  Book  XXVIII,  Chap- 
ter XXIII,  of  his  "Natural  History,"  gives  long  lists  of  the  various  good 
and  evil  influences  attributed  to  menstruation,  writes  in  the. latter 
place:  "Hailstorms,  they  say;  whirlwinds;  and  lightnings,  even,  will 
be  scared  away  by  a  woman  uncovering  her  body  while  her  monthly 
courses  are  upon  her.  The  same,  too,  w  ith  all  other  kinds  of  ten^pestuous 
Meatlier:  and  out  at  sea  a  storm  may  be  stilled  by  a  woman  uncover- 
ing her  body  merely,  even  though  not  menstruating  at  the  time.  At 
any  other  time,  also,  if  a  woman  strips  herself  naked  while  she  is  men- 
struating, and  walks  round  a  field  of  wheat,  the  caterpillars,  worms, 
beetles,  and  other  vermin  \\ill  fall  from  ofT  the  ears  of  corn." 

^  Dr.  L.  Laurent  gives  these  instances,  "De  Quelques  Phenomenes 
Mecaniques  produits  au  moment  de  la  Menstruation,"  Annales  des  Sci- 
ences Psychiques,  September  and  October,   1897. 


214  APPENDIX    A. 

In  1878  a  member  of  the  British  Medical  Association  wrote 
to  the  British  Medical  Journal,  asking  whether  it  was  true  that 
if  a  woman  cured  hams  while  menstruating  the  hams  would  be 
spoiled.  He  had  known  this  to  happen  twice.  Another  medical 
man  wrote  that  if  so,  what  would  happen  to  the  patients  of  men- 
struating lady -doctors?  A  third  wrote  (in  the  Journal  for  April 
27,  1878):  "I  thought  the  fact  was  so  generally  known  to  every 
housewife  and  cook  that  meat  would  spoil  if  salted  at  the  men- 
strual period,  that  I  am  surprised  to  see  so  many  letters  on  the 
subject  in  the  Journal.  If  I  am  not  mistaken,  the  question  was 
mooted  many  years  ago  in  the  periodicals.  It  is  undoubtedly 
the  fact  that  meat  will  be  tainted  if  cured  by  women  at  the  cata- 
menial  period.  Whatever  the  rationale  may  be,  I  can  speak  posi- 
tively as  to  the  fact.^^ 

It  is  probably  the  influence  of  these  primitive  ideas  which 
has  caused  surgeons  and  gynecologists  to  dread  operations  during 
the  catamenial  period.  Such,  at  all  events,  is  the  opinion  of  a 
distinguished  authority.  Dr.  William  Goodell,  who  wrote  in 
1891^:  "I  have  learned  to  unlearn  llie  teaching  that  women  must 
not  be  subjected  to  a  surgical  operation  during  the  monthly  flux. 
Our  forefathers,  from  time  immemorial,  have  thought  and  taught 
that  the  presence  of  a  menstruating  woman  would  pollute  sol- 
emn religious  rites,  would  sour  milk,  spoil  the  fermentation  in 
wine-vats,  and  much  other  mischief  in  a  general  way.  Influenced 
by  hoary  tradition,  modern  physicians  very  generally  postpone 
all  operative  treatment  until  tlie  flow  has  ceased.  But  why  this 
delay,  if  time  is  precious,  and  it  enters  as  an  important  factor  in 
the  case?  I  have  found  menstruation  to  be  the  very  best  time 
to  curette  away  fungous  vegetations  of  the  endometrium,  for, 
being  swollen  then,  by  the  afTIux  of  blood,  they  are  larger  than 
at  any  other  time,  and  can  the  more  readily  be  removed.  There 
is,  indeed,  no  surer  way  of  checking  or  of  stopping  a  metror- 
rhagia than  by  curetting  the  womb  during  the  very  flow.  While 
T  do  nnt  sol  Oft  this  period  for  the  removal  of  ovarian  cysts,  or  for 


'As  (juoh'tl   iji  ilh-   Provincial  ^Icdiciil  .lonnial.  April.  1S!»1 


MENSTRUATION    AND    THE    POSITION    OF    WOMEN.  215 

other  abdominal  work,  such  as  the  extirpation  of  the  ovaries,  or 
a  kidney,  or  breaking  up  intestinal  adhesions,  etc.,  yet  I  have  not 
hesitated  to  perform  these  operations  at  such  a  time,  and  have 
never  had  reason  to  regret  the  course.  The  only  operations  that 
I  should  dislike  to  perform  during  menstruation  would  be  those 
involving  the  womb  itself." 

It  must  be  added  to  this  that  we  still  have  to  take  into 
consideration  not  merely  the  surviving  influence  of  ancient 
primitive  beliefs,  but  the  possible  existence  of  actual  nervous 
conditions  during  the  menstrual  period,  producing  what  may 
be  described  as  an  abnormal  nervous  tension.  In  this  way,  we 
are  doubtless  concerned  with  a  tissue  of  phenomena,  inextricably 
woven,  of  folk-lore,  autosuggestion,  false  observation,  and  real 
mental  and  nervous  abnormality.  Laurent  has  recently  brought 
forward  several  cases  which  may  illustrate  this  point.  Thus,  he 
speaks  of  two  young  girls  of  about  16  and  17,  slightly  neuro- 
pathic, but  without  definite  hysterical  symptoms,  who,  during 
the  menstrual  period  feel  themselves  in  a  sort  of  electrical  state, 
"with  tingling  and  prickling  sensations  and  feelings  of  attraction 
or  repulsion  at  the  contact  of  various  objects.''  These  girls  be- 
lieve their  garments  stick  to  their  skin  during  the  periods;  it 
was  only  with  difficulty  that  they  could  remove  their  slippers, 
though  fitting  easily;  stockings  liad  to  be  drawn  off  violently 
by  another  person,  and  they  had  given  up  changing  their  chemises 
during  the  period  because  the  linen  became  so  glued  to  the  skin. 
An  orchestral  performer  on  the  double-bass  informed  Laurent 
that  whenever  he  left  a  tuned  double-bass  in  his  lodgings  during 
his  wife's  period  a  string  snapped;  consequently  he  always  re- 
moved his  instrument  at  this  time  to  a  friend's  house.  He  added 
that  the  same  thing  happened  two  years  earlier  with  a  mistress, 
a  cafe-concert  singer,  who  had,  indeed,  warned  him  beforehand. 
A  harpist  also  informed  Laurent  that  she  had  been  obliged  to 
give  up  her  profession  because  during  her  period  several  strings 
of  her  harp,  always  the  same  strings,  broke,  especially  when  she 
was  playing.  A  friend  of  Laurent's,  an  official  in  Cochin  China, 
also  told  him  that  tl;e  strings  of  his  violin  often  snapped  during 
the  menstrual  periods  of  his  Annamite  mistress,  who  informed 


216  APPENDIX    A. 

him  that  Annamite  women  are  familiar  with  this  phenomenon, 
and  are  careful  not  to  play  on  their  instruments  at  this  time.  Two 
young  ladies,  both  good  violinists,  also  affirmed  that  ever  since 
their  first  menstruation  they  had  noted  a  tendency  for  the  strings 
to  snap  at  this  period;  one,  a  genuine  artist,  who  often  performed 
at  charity  concerts,  systematically  refused  to  play  at  these  times, 
and  was  often  embarrassed  to  find  a  pretext;  the  other,  who  ad- 
mitted that  she  was  nervous  and  irritable  at  such  times,  had 
given  up  playing  on  account  of  the  trouble  of  changing  the 
strings  so  frequently.  Laurent  also  refers  to  the  frequency  with 
which  women  break  things  during  the  menstrual  periods,  and 
considers  that  this  is  not  simply  due  to  the  awkwardness  caused 
by  nervous  exhaustion  or  hysterical  tremors,  but  that  there  is 
spontaneous  breakage.  Most  usually  it  happens  that  a  glass 
breaks  when  it  is  being  dried  with  a  cloth;  needles  also  break 
with  unusual  facility  at  this  time;  clocks  are  stopped  by  merely 
placing  the  hand  upon  them. 

I  do  not  here  attempt  to  estimate  critically  the  validity  of 
these  alleged  manifestations  (some  of  which  may  certainly  be 
explained  by  the  unconscious  muscular  action  which  forms  the 
basis  of  the  phenomena  of  table-turning  and  thought-reading); 
such  a  task  may  best  be  undertaken  through  the  minute  study  of 
isolated  cases,  and  in  this  place  I  am  merely  concerned  with  the 
general  influence  of  the  menstrual  state  in  affecting  tlie  social 
position  of  women,  without  reference  to  the  analysis  of  the  ele- 
ments that  go  to  make  up  that  influence. 

There  is  only  one  further  point  to  which  attention  may  be 
called.  I  allude  to  the  way  in  which  the  more  favorable  side 
of  the  primitive  conception  of  the  menstruating  woman — as 
priestess,  sibyl,  prophetess,  an  almost  miraculous  agent  for  good, 
an  angel,  the  peculiar  home  of  the  divine  element — was  slowly 
and  continuously  carried  on  side  by  side  with  the  less  favorable 
view,  through  the  beginnings  of  European  civilization  until  our 
own  times.  The  actual  physical  phenomena  of  menstruation, 
with  the  ideas  of  taboo  associated  with  that  state,  sank  into  the 
background  as  culture  evolved;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
ideas  of  tlio  an,£relic  position  and  spiritual  mission  of  women, 


MENSTRUATION    AND    THE    POSITION    OF    WOMEN.  217 

based  on  the  primitive  conceptioB  of  the  mystery  associated  with 
menstruation,  still  in  some  degree  persisted. 

It  is  evident,  however,  that,  while,  in  one  form  or  another, 
the  more  favorable  aspect  of  the  primitive  view  of  women's  magic 
function  has  never  quite  died  out,  the  gradual  decay  and  deg- 
radation of  the  primitive  animistic  view  has,  on  the  whole,  in- 
volved a  more  degraded  view  of  women's  nature  and  position. 
Woman  has  always  been  the  witch;  she  was  so  even  in  ancient 
Babylonia;  but  she  has  ceased  to  be  the  priestess.  The  early 
Teutons  saw  ^^sanctum  aliquid  et  providum"  in  women  who,  for 
the  medieval  German  preacher,  were  only  '^bestice  bipedales^';  and 
Schopenhauer  and  even  Nietzsche  have  been  more  inclined  to 
side  with  the  preacher  than  with  the  half -naked  philosophers  of 
Tacitus's  day.  But  both  views  alike  are  but  the  extremes  of  the 
same  animistic  conception;  and  the  gradual  evolution  from  one 
extreme  of  the  magical  doctrine  to  the  other  was  inevitable. 
Thus  it  is  that,  in  order  to  do  justice  to  women,  we  have  to  sweep 
aside  both  aspects  alike  of  the  magic  conception  of  womanhood, 
— that  which  absurdly  exalts  it,  as  well  as  that  which  absurdly 
degrades  it, — remembering  that  both  conceptions  alike  flow  from 
the  same  source,  and  that  each  involves  the  other.  This  can  only 
be  accomplished  by  the  clear  and  full  discussion  of  the  problems 
that  centre  around  sex. 

In  an  advanced  civilization,  as  we  see,  these  ideas  having 
their  ultimate  basis  on  the  old  story  of  the  serpent,  and  on  a  spe- 
cial and  mysterious  connection  between  the  menstruating  woman 
and  the  occult  forces  of  magic,  tend  to  die  out.  The  separation  of 
the  sexes  they  involved  becomes  unnecessary.  Living  in  greater 
community  with  men,  women  are  seen  to  possess  something,  it 
may  well  be,  but  less  than  before,  of  the  angel-devil  of  animistic 
theories.  Menstruation  is  no  longer  a  monstrific  state  requiring 
spiritual  taboo,  but  a  normal  physiological  process,  not  without 
its  psychic  influences  on  the  woman  herself  and  on  those  who 
live  with  her. 


APPENDIX  B. 


SEXUAL  PERIODICITY  IX  MEX. 
By  F.  H.  Perry-Coste,  B.Sc.  (Lond.). 


In  a  recent  brochure  on  the  ^"'Rhythm  of  the  Pulse""^  I 
showed  inter  alia  that  the  readings  of  the  pulse,  in  both  man  and 
woman,  if  arranged  in  lunar  monthly  periods,  and  averaged  over 
several  years,  displayed  a  clear,  and  sometimes  very  strongly 
marked  and  symmetrical,  rhythm.  After  pointing  out  that,  in 
at  any  rate  some  cases,  the  male  and  female  pulse-curves,  both 
monthly  and  annual,  seemed  to  be  converse  to  one  another,  I 
added:  '^It  is  difficult  to  ignore  the  suggestion  that  in  this  trac- 
ing of  the  monthly  rhythm  of  the  pulse  we  have  a  history  of  the 
monthly  function  in  women;  and  that,  if  so,  the  tracing  of  the 
male  pulse  may  eventually  afford  us  some  help  in  discovering  a 
corresponding  monthly  period  in  men:  the  existence  of  which 
has  been  suggested  by  Mr.  Havelock  Ellis  and  Professor  Stanley 
Hall,  among  other  writers.  Certainly  the  mere  fact  that  we  can 
trace  a  clear  monthly  rhythm  in  man's  pulse  seems  to  point 
strongly  to  the  existence  of  a  monthly  physiological  period  in 
him  also." 

Obviously,  however,  it  is  only  indirectly  and  by  inference 
that  we  can  argue  from  a  monthly  rhythm  of  the  pulse  in  men 
to  a  male  sexual  periodicity;  l)ut  I  am  now  able  to  adduce  more 
direct  evidence  that  will  fairly  domoustrate  the  existence  of  a 
sexual  periodicity  in  men. 


'  First  j)nl)1isliod  in  tlu*  ITnixorsity  M:i<?i\/.iiio  mjuI  Froo  Kovicw  of 
February,  1898,  and  since  reprinted  as  a  paniijhlet,  and  published  by  the 
University  Press,  Watford,  near  Ijondon.  A  preliminary  communication 
appeared  in  Nature,  Mav   14.  1S91. 

(218) 


SEXUAL    PERIODICITY    IX    MEN.  219 

We  will  start  from  the  fact  that  celibac}^  is  profoundly  un- 
natural, and  is,  therefore,  a  physical — as  well  as  an  emotional  and 
intellectual — abnormality.  This  being  so,  it  is  entirely  in  accord 
with  all  that  we  know  of  physiology  that,  when  relief  to  the  sex- 
ual secretory  system  by  Xature's  means  is  denied,  and  when,  in 
consequence,  a  certain  degree  of  tension  or  pressure  has  been 
attained,  the  system  should  relieve  itself  by  a  spontaneous  dis- 
charge— such  discharge  being,  of  course,  in  the  strict  sense  of 
the  term,  pathological,  since  it  would  never  occur  in  any  animal 
that  followed  the  strict  law  of  its  physical  being  without  any  re- 
gard to  other  and  higher  laws  of  concern  for  its  fellows. 

Notoriously,  that  which  we  should  have  anticipated  a  priori 
actually  occurs;  for  any  unmarried  man,  who  lives  in  strict 
chastity,  periodically  experiences,  while  sleeping,  a  loss  of  semi- 
nal fluid,  such  phenomena  being  popularly  referred  to  as  iret 
dreams.'^ 

During  some  eight  or  ten  years  I  have  carefully  recorded  the 
occurrence  of  such  discharges  as  I  have  experienced  myself,  and 
I  have  now  accumulated  sufficient  data  to  justify  an  attempt  to 
formulate  some  provisional  conclusions. - 

In  order  to  render  these  observations  as  serviceable  as  may 
be  to  students  of  periodicity,  I  here  repeat  (at  the  request  of  Mr. 
Havelock  Ellis)  the  statement  which  was  subjoined,  for  the  same 
reasons,  to  my  "Ehythm  of  the  Pulse."  These  observations  upon 
myself  were  made  between  the  ages  of  20  and  33.  I  am  about  5 
feet  9  inches  tall,  broad-shouldered,  and  weigh  about  10  stone 
3  lbs.  net — this  weight  being,  I  believe,  about  7  lbs.  below  the 
normal  for  my  height.  Also  I  have  green-brown  eyes,  very  dark- 
brown  hair,  and  a  complexion  that  leads  strangers  frequently  to 


^  I  may  add,  however,  that  in  my  o\\  n  case  these  discliavges  are — so 
far  as  I  can  trust  my  waking  consciousness — frequently,  if  not  usually, 
dreamless;  and  that  strictly  sexual  dreams  are  extremely  rare,  notwith- 
standing the  possession  of  a  strongly  emotional  temperament. 

-  If  I  can  trust  my  memory,  I  first  experienced  this  discharge  when 
a  few  months  under  fifteen  years  of  age.  and,  if  so,  within  a  few  weeks 
of  the  time  when  T  was.  in  an  instant,  suddenly  struck  with  the  thought 
that  possibly  the  religion  in  which  I  had  been  educated  might  be  false. 
It  is  curiously  interesting  that  the  advent  of  puberty  should  have  been 
heralded  bv  this  intelleotunl   crisis. 


220  APPENDIX    B. 

mistake  me  for  a  foreigner — this  complexion  being,  perhaps, 
attributable  to  some  Huguenot  blood,  although  on  the  maternal 
side  I  am,  so  far  as  all  information  goes,  pure  English.  I  can 
stand  a  irood  deal  of  heat,  eniov  relaxino-  climates,  am  at  once 
upset  by  ^'bracing'"  sea-air,  hate  the  cold,  and  sweat  profusely 
after  any  exercise.  To  this  it  will  suffice  to  add  that  my  tempera- 
ment is  of  a  decidedly  nervous  and  emotional  type. 

Before  proceeding  to  remark  upon  the  various  rhythms  that 
I  have  discovered,  I  Avill  tabulate  the  data  on  which  my  conclu- 
sions are  founded.  The  numbers  of  discharges  recorded  in  the 
years  in  question  are  as  follow: — 

In  188G,  30.     (Records  commenced   in   April.) 

In  1887,  40.  . 

In  1888,  37. 

In  1889,  18.     (Pretty  certainly  not  fully  recorded.) 

In  1890,     0.     (No  records  kept  this  year.^) 

In  1891,  19.     (Records  recommenced  in  June.) 

In  1892,  35. 

In  1893,  40. 

In  1894,  38. 

In  1895,  30. 

In  1890,  3G. 

In  1897,  35. 

Avera.^e.  37.     (Omitting  1880,  1889,  and  1891.) 

Thus  I  have  complete  records  for  eight  years,  and  incom- 
plete records  for  three  more;  and  the  remarkable  concord  be- 
tween the  respective  annual  numbers  of  observations  in  these 
eight  years  not  only  afTords  us  intrinsic  evidence  of  the  accuracy 
of  my  records,  Ijut,  also,  at  once  proves  that  there  is  an  undeni- 
able regularity  in  the  occurrence  of  these  sexual  discharges,  and, 
therefore,  gives  u-  reason  for  expecting  to  find  this  regularity 


'This  unforliinatr  hrcacli  in  llic  rocoids  was  duo  to  tho  fact  that, 
failinp^  to  discover  any  rcpiilarily  in.  or  law  of.  tlio  occurrences  of  the 
discliarfiifcs.  I  hccainc  discourajfcd  and  a)):ni(l<)nc(l  my  records.  Tn  .lune, 
1891,  a  rc-cxaniinaiion  of  my  pulsc-rccords  havinjj^  led  to  my  discovery 
of  a  lunar  niont illy  rhythm  of  the  ])ulse,  my  interest  in  other  physio- 
logical jjcriodicities  wa"^  reawakened,  and  I  recommenced  my  records  of 
tliesc  dis(harf,'cs. 


SEXUAL    PERlOmClTY    IN    MEN.  221 

rhythmical.  Moreover,  since  it  seemed  reasonable  to  expect  that 
there  might  be  more  than  one  rhythm,  I  have  examined  my  data 
with  a  view  to  discovering  (1)  an  annual,  (2)  a  lunar-monthly, 
and  (3)  a  weekly  rhythm,  and  I  now  proceed  to  show  that  all 
three  such  rhythms  exist. 

The  Annual  Rhythm. 

It  is  obvious  that,  in  searching  for  an  annual  rhythm,  we 
must  ignore  the  records  of  the  three  incomplete  years,  but  those 
of  the  remaining  eight  are  graphically  depicted  upon  Chart  7. 
The  curves  speak  so  plainly  for  themselves  that  any  comment 
were  almost  superfluous,  and  the  concord  between  the  various 
curves,  although,  of  course,  not  perfect,  is  far  greater  than  the 
scantiness  of  the  data  would  have  justified  us  in  expecting.  The 
curves  all  agree  in  pointing  to  the  existence  of  three  well-defined 
maxima, — viz.,  in  March,  June,  and  September, — these  being, 
therefore,  the  months  in  which  the  sexual  instinct  is  most  active; 
and  the  later  curves  show  that  there  is  also  often  a  fourth  maxi- 
mum in  January.  In  the  earlier  years  the  March  and  June 
maxima  are  more  strikingly  marked  than  the  September  one; 
but  the  uppermost  curve  shows  that  on  the  average  of  all  eight 
years  the  September  maximum  is  the  highest,  the  June  and 
January  maxima  occupying  the  second  place,  and  the  March 
maximum  being  the  least  strongly  marked  of  all. 

Now,  remembering  that,  in  calculating  the  curves  of  the 
annual  rhythm  of  the  pulse,  I  had  found  it  necessary  to  average 
two  months'  records  together,  in  order  to  bring  out  the  full 
significance  of  the  rhythm,  I  thought  it  well  to  try  the  effect 
upon  these  curves  also  of  similarly  averaging  two  months  to- 
gether. At  first  my  results  were  fairly  satisfactory;  but,  as  my 
data  increased  year  by  year,  I  found  that  these  curves  were  con- 
tradicting one  another,  and  therefore  concluded  that  I  had 
selected  unnatural  periods  for  my  averaging.  My  first  attempted 
remedy  was  to  arrange  the  months  in  the  pairs  December-Jan- 
uar}^,  February-March,  etc.,  instead  of  in  January-February, 
March- April,  etc.;  but  with  these  pairs  I  fared  no  better  than 
with  the  former.     I  then  arranged  the  months  in  the  triplets. 


222  APPENDIX    B. 

January-Febriiai'v-^Maixli,  etc.;  and  the  results  are  graphically 
recorded  on  Chart  8.  Here,  again,  comment  would  be  quite 
futile,  but  I  need  only  point  out  that,  on  the  irlioJe,  the  sexual 
activity  rises  steadily  during  the  first  nine  months  in  the  year 
to  its  maximum  in  September,  and  then  sinks  rapidly  and 
abruptly  during  the  next  three  to  its  minimum  in  December. 

The  study  of  these  curves  suggests  two  interesting  ques- 
tions, to  neither  of  which,  however,  do  the  data  afford  us  an 
answer. 

In  the  first  place,  are  the  alterations,  in  my  case,  of  the 
maximum  of  the  discharges  from  March  and  June  in  the  earlier 
years  to  September  in  the  later,  and  the  interpolation  of  a  new 
secondary  maximum  in  January,  correlated  with  the  increase  in 
age;  or  is  the  discrepancy  due  simply  to  a  temporary  irregularity 
that  would  have  been  equally  averaged  out  had  I  recorded  the 
discharges  of  1881-89  instead  of  those  from  1887  to  1897? 

The  second  question  is  one  of  very  gi'eat  importance — so- 
cially, ethically,  and  physically.  Plow  often,  in  this  climate,  should 
a  man  have  sexual  connection  with  his  wife  in  order  to  maintain 
himself  in  perfect  physiological  equilibrium?  My  results  enable 
us  to  state  definitely  the  minimum  limits,  and  to  reply  that  37 
embraces  annually  would  be  too  few;  but,  unfortunately,  they 
give  us  no  clue  to  the  maximum  limit.  It  is  obvious  that  the 
necessary  frequency  should  be  greater  than  37  times  annually, — 
possibly  very  considerably  in  excess  thereof, — seeing  that  the 
spontaneous  discharges,  with  which  we  are  dealing,  are  due  to 
overpressure,  and  occur  only  when  the  system,  being  denied 
natural  relief,  can  no  longer  retain  its  secretions;  and,  therefore, 
it  seems  very  reasonable  to  suggest  that  the  frequency  of  natural 
relief  should  be  some  multiple  of  37.  I  do  not  perceive,  how- 
ever, that  the  data  in  hand  afl'ord  iis  any  clue  to  this  multiple, 
or  enable  us  to  suggest  either  2,  3,  4,  or  5  as  the  required  multiple 
of  37.  It  is  true  that  other  observations  upon  myself  have  af- 
forded me  what  I  believe  to  Ix-  a  fairly  satisfactory  and  reliable 
answer  so  far  as  concerns  mvself:   but  these  observations  are  of 


SEXUAL    PERIODICITY    IN    MEN.  223 

such  a  nature  that  they  cannot  he  discussed  here,  and  I  have  no 
inclination  to  offer  as  a  counsel  to  others  an  opinion  which  I 
am  unable  to  justify  by  the  citation  of  facts  and  statistics.  More- 
over, I  am  quite  unable  to  opine  whether,  given  37  as  the  annual 
frequency  of  spontaneous  discharges  in  a  number  of  men,  the 
multiple  required  for  the  frequency  of  natural  relief  should  be 
the  same  in  every  case.  For  aught  I  know  to  the  contrary,  the 
physiological  idiosyncrasies  of  men  may  be  so  varied  that,  given 
two  men  with  an  annual  frequency  of  37  spontaneous  discharges, 
the  desired  multiple  may  be  in  one  case  X  and  in  the  other  2X.^ 
Our  data,  however,  do  clearly  denote  that  the  frequency  in  the 
six  or  eight  summer  months  should  bear  to  the  frequency  of  the 
six  or  four  winter  months  the  proportion  of  three  or  four  to  two. 
Moreover,  since  we  are  starting  from  a  premise  of  a  stated  annual 
frequenc}^,  and  since,  during  man}^  months  of  pregnancy  and 
suckling,  a  woman  should  be  free  from  the  embraces  of  her  hus- 
band, it  seems  reasonable  that  the  frequency  during  the  remain- 
ing months  should  be,  if  possible,  so  far  increased  that  the  total 
annual  frequency  should  remain  undisturbed,^  always  provided, 
however,  that  these  safe-guards  for  the  man's  health  can  he  secured 
icithout  detriment  to  either  the  health  or  the  inclinations  of  the  wife. 
It  should  never  be  forgotten,  however,  that,  under  all  conditions, 
both  man  and  wife  should  exercise  prudence,  both  self  ward  and 
otherivard,  and  that  each  should  utterly  refuse  to  gratify  self  by 
accepting  a  sacrifice,  however  willingly  offered,  that  may  be 
gravely  prejudicial  to  the  health  of  the  other;  for  only  experi- 
ence can  show  whether,  in  any  union,  the  receptivity  of  the 
woman  he  greater  or  less  than,  or  equal  to,  the  physical  desire  of 
the  man.  To  those,  of  course,  who  regard  marriage  from  the 
old-fashioned  and  grossly  immoral  stand-point  of  Melancthon 
and  other  theologians,  and  who  consider  a  wife  as  the  divinelv 


''■  As  a  matter  of  fact.  I  take  it  that  we  may  safely  assert  that  no 
man  who  is  content  to  be  guided  by  his  own  instinctive  cravings,  and 
who  neither  suppresses  these,  on  the  one  hand,  nor  endeavors  to  force 
himself,  on  the  other  hand,  will  be  in  any  danger  of  erring  by  either 
excess  or  the  contrary. 

-  If  for  any  reason  Xeo-Malthusianism  be  practiced,  the  problem  is, 
of  eoTirse,  reduced  to  its  simplest  terms. 


224:  APPENDIX    B. 

ordained  vehicle  for  the  chartered  intemperance  of  her  husband, 
it  will  seem  grotesque  in  the  highest  degree  that  a  physiological 
inquirer  should  attempt  to  advise  them  how  often  to  seek  the 
embraces  of  their  wives;  but  those  who  regard  woman  from  the 
stand-point  of  a  higher  ethics,  who  abhor  the  notion  that  she 
should  be  only  the  vehicle  for  her  husband's  passions,  and  who 
demand  that  she  shall  be  mistress  of  her  own  body,  will  not  be 
ungrateful  for  any  guidance  that  physiology  can  afford  them. 
It  will  be  seen  presently,  moreover,  that  the  study  of  the  weekly 
rhythm  does  afford  us  some  less  inexact  clue  to  the  desired  solu- 
tion. 

One  curious  fact  may  be  mentioned  before  we  quit  this  in- 
teresting question.  It  is  stated  that  "Solon  required  [of  the 
husband]  three  payments  per  month.  By  the  Misna  a  daily  debt 
was  imposed  upon  an  idle  vigorous  young  husband:  tivice  a  week 
on  a  citizen;  once  in  thirty  days  on  a  camel-driver;  once  in  six 
months  on  a  seaman.^'^  Now  it  is  certainly  striking  that  Solon's 
"three  payments  per  month"  exactly  correspond  with  my  rec- 
ords of  37  discharges  annually.  Had  Solon  similarly  recorded  a 
series  of  observations  upon  himself? 

The  Lunar-Monthly  EiiYTH^r. 

We  now  come  to  that  division  of  the  inquiry  which  is  of 
the  greatest  physiological  interest,  although  of  little  social  im- 
port. Is  there  a  monthly  period  in  man  as  well  as  in  woman? 
My  records  indicate  clearly  that  there  is. 

In  searching  for  this  monthly  rhythm  I  have  utilized  the 
data,  not  only  of  the  eight  completely-recorded  years,  but  also 
those  of  the  three  years  of  188G,  1889,  and  1891,  for,  although 
it  would  obviously  have  been  inaccurate  to  utilize  these  incom- 
plete records  when  calculating  the  yearly  rhythm,  there  seems 
no  objection  to  making  use  of  them  in  the  present  section  of 
the  inquiry.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  remark  that  the  terms 
"first  day  of  the  month,"  "second  day,"  "third  day,"  etc.,  are  to 


'  Rolden's   "Uxor    Trcbraica."   as   quoted    in    Gibbon's    "Declino    and 
Fall,"  vol.  V,  p.  52,  of  iJohirs  edition. 


SEXUAL    PERIODICITY    IN    MEN.  225 

be  understood  as  denoting  "new-moon  day,"  "day  after  new- 
moon,"  "third  lunar  day,"  and  so  on;  but  it  should  be  explained 
that,  since  these  discharges  occur  at  night,  I  have  adopted  the 
astronomical,  instead  of  the  civil,  day;  so  that  a  new  moon  oc- 
curring between  noon  yesterday  and  noon  to-day  is  reckoned  as 
occurring  yesterday,  and  yesterday  is  regarded  as  the  first  lunar 
day:  thus,  a  discharge  occurring  in  the  night  between  December 
31st  and  January  1st  is  tabulated  as  occurring  on  December  31st, 
and,  in  the  present  discussion,  is  assigned  to  the  lunar  day  com- 
prised between  noon  of  December  31st  and  noon  of  January  1st. 

Since  it  is  obvious  that  the  number  of  discharges  in  any 
one  year — averaging,  as  they  do,  only  1.25  per  day — are  far  too 
few  to  yield  a  curve  of  any  value,  I  have  combined  my  data  in. 
two  series.  The  dotted  curve  on  Chart  9  is  obtained  by  com- 
bining the  results  of  the  years  1886-92:  two  of  these  years  are 
incompletely  recorded,  and  there  are  no  records  for  1890;  the 
total  number  of  observations  was  179.  The  broken  curve  is 
obtained  by  combining  those  of  the  years  1893-97,  the  total  num- 
ber of  observations  being  185.  Even  so,  the  data  are  far  too 
scanty  to  yield  a  really  characteristic  curve;  but  the  continuous 
curve,  which  sums  up  the  results  of  the  eleven  years,  is  more 
reliable,  and  obviously  more  satisfactory; 

If  the  two  former  curves  be  compared,  it  will  be  seen  that, 
on  the  whole,  they  display  a  general  concordance,  such  differ- 
ences as  exist  being  attributable  chiefly  to  tw^o  facts:  (1)  that 
the  second  curve  is  more  even  throughout,  neither  maximum  nor 
minimum  being  so  strongly  mark-ed  as  in  the  first;  and  (2)  that 
the  main  maximum  occurs  in  the  middle  of  the  month  instead 
of  on  the  second  lunar  day,  and  the  absence  of  the  marked 
initial  maximum  alters  the  character  of  the  first  week  or  so  of 
this  curve.  It  is,  however,  scarcely  fair  to  lay  any  great  stress 
on  the  characters  of  curves  obtained  from  such  scanty  data,  and 
we  will,  therefore,  pass  to  the  continuous  curve,  the  study  of 
which  will  prove  more  valuable.^ 


^  I  may  add  that  the  curve  yielded  by  1896-97  is  remarkably  parallel 
with  that  yielded  by  the  preceding  nine  years,  but  I  have  not  thought 
it  worth  wliile  to  chart  these  two  additional  curves. 

15 


22 ij  APPENDIX    B. 

Xow,  even  a  cursory  examination  of  this  continuous  curve 
will  vield  the  followino:  results: — 

1.  The  discharges  occur  most  frequently  on  the  second  lunar 
day. 

2.  The  days  of  the  next  most  frequent  discharges  are  the 
22d;  the  13th;  the  Tth,  20th,  and  26th;  the  11th  and  16th; 
so  that,  if  we  regard  only  the  first  six  of  these,  we  find  that  the 
discharges  occur  most  frequently  on  the  2d,  7th,  13th,  20th,  22d, 
and  26th  lunar  days — i.e.,  the  discharges  occur  most  frequently 
on  days  separated,  on  the  average,  by  four-day  intervals;  but 
actually  the  period  between  the  20th  and  22d  days  is  that  char- 
acterized by  the  most  frequent  discharges. 

3.  The  days  of  minimum  of  discharge  are  the  1st,  5th,  15th, 
18th,  and  21st. 

4.  The  curve  is  characterized  by  a  continual  see-sawing;  so 
that  every  notable  maximum  is  immediately  followed  by  a 
notable  minimum.  Thus,  the  curve  is  of  an  entirely  different 
character  from  that  representing  the  monthly  rhythm  of  the 
pulse,^  and  this  is  only  what  one  might  have  expected,  for, 
whereas  the  mea7i  pulsations  vary  only  very  slightly  from  day 
to  day, — thus  giving  rise  to  a  gradually  rising  or  sinking  curve, 
— a  discharge  from  the  sexual  system  relieves  the  tension  by 
exhausting  the  stored-up  secretion,  and  is  necessarily  followed 
by  some  days  of  rest  and  inactivity.  In  the  very  nature  of  the 
case,  therefore,  a  curve  of  this  kind  could  not  possibly  be  other- 
wise than  most  irregular  if  the  discharges  tended  to  occur  most 
frequently  upon  definite  days  of  the  month;  and  thus  the  very 
irregularity  of  the  curve  affords  us  proof  that  there  is  a  regular 
male  periodicity,  such  that  on  certain  days  of  the  month  there 
is  greater  probability  of  a  spontaneous  discharge  than  on  any 
other  days. 

5.  Gratifying,  however,  though  this  irregularity  of  the  curve 
may  be,  yet  it  entails  a  corresponding  dis<idvantage,  for  we  are 
precluded  thereby  from  readily  perceiving  the  characteristics  of 
the  monthly  rhythm  as  a  whole.     I  thought  that  perhaps  this 


'  See  "RhytliiM   of  the   Pulse,"  Chart  4. 


SEXUAL    PEEIODICITY    IN    MEN.  227 

aspect  of  the  rhythm  might  be  rendered  plainer  if  I  calculated 
the  data  into  two-day  a\erages;  and  the  result,  as  shown  in 
Chart  10,  is  extremely  satisfactory.  Here  we  can  at  once  perceive 
the  wonderful  and  almost  geometric,  symmetry  of  the  monthly 
rhythm;  indeed,  if  the  third  maximum  were  one  unit  higher,  if 
the  first  minimum  were  one  unit  lower,  and  if  the  lines  joining 
the  second  minimum  and  third  maximum,  and  the  fourth  maxi- 
mum and  fourth  minimum,  were  straight  instead  of  being  slightly 
broken,  then  the  curve  would,  in  its  chief  features,  be  geometric- 
ally symmetrical;  and  this  symmetry  appears  to  me  to  afford  a 
convincing  proof  of  the  representative  accuracy  of  the  curve. 
We  see  that  the  month  is  divided  into  five  periods;  that  the 
maxima  occur  on  the  following  pairs  of  days:  the  19th-20th, 
13th-14th,  25th-26th,  lst-2d,  Tth-Sth;  and  that  the  minima 
occur  at  the  Ijeginning,  end,  and  exact  middle  of  the  month. 
There  have  been  many  idle  superstitions  as  to  the  influence  of 
the  moon  upon  the  earth  and  its  inhabitants,  and  some  beliefs 
that — once  deemed  equally  idle — have  now  been  reinstated  in 
the  regard  of  science;  but  it  would  certainly  seem  to  be  a  very 
fascinating  and  very  curious  fact  if  the  influence  of  the  moon 
upon  men  should  be  such  as  to  regulate  the  spontaneous  dis- 
charges of  their  sexual  system.  Certainly  the  lovers  of  all  ages 
would  then  have  "builded  better  than  they  knew,"  when  they 
reared  altars  of  devotional  verse  to  that  chaste  goddess  Artemis. 

The  Weekly  Etiythm. 

We  now  come  to  the  third  branch  of  our  inquiry,  and  have 
to  ask  whether  there  be  any  weekly  rh3^thm  of  the  sexual  activity. 
A  priori  it  might  be  answered  that  to  expect  any  such  weekly 
rhythm  were  absurd,  seeing  that  our  week — unlike  the  lunar 
month  of  the  year — is  a  purely  artificial  and  conventional  period, 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  might  be  retorted  that  the  existence 
of  an  induced  weekly  periodicity  is  quite  conceivable,  such  perio- 
dicity being  induced  by  the  habitual  difference  between  our  oc- 
cupation, or  mode  of  life,  on  one  or  two  days  of  the  week  and 
that  on  the  remaining  days.  In  such  an  inquiry,  however,  a 
priori  argument  is  futile,  as  the  question  can  be  answered  only 


228  APPENDIX    B, 

by  an  induction  from  observations,  and  the  curves  on  Chart  11 
(A  and  B)  prove  conclusively  that  there  is  a  notable  weekly 
rhythm.  The  existence  of  this  weekly  rhythm  being  granted, 
it  would  naturally  be  assumed  that  either  the  maximum  or  the 
minimum  would  regularly  occur  on  Saturday  or  Sunday;  but 
an  examination  of  the  curves  discloses  the  unexpected  result  that 
the  dav  of  maximum  discharo:e  varies  from  vear  to  vear.  Thus 
it  is^ 

Sunday  in       1888,  1892,  1896. 

Tuesday  in     1894. 

Thursday  in  1886,  1897. 

Friday  in        1887. 

Saturday  in    1893  and  1895. 

Since,  in  Chart  11,  the  curves  are  drawn  from  Sunday  to 
Sunday,  it  is  obvious  that  the  real  S3^mmetry  of  the  curve  is 
brought  out  in  those  years  only  which  are  characterized  by  a 
Sunday  maximum;  and,  accordingly,  in  Chart  12  1  have  depicted 
the  curves  in  a  more  suitable  form. 

Chart  12  .4  is  obtained  by  combining  the  data  of  1888. 
1892,  and  1896:  the  years  of  a  Sunday  maximum.  Curve  12  B 
r€presents  the  results  of  1894,  the  year  of  a  Tuesday  maximum — 
multiplied  throughout  by  three  in  order  to  render  the  curve 
strictly  comparable  with  the  former.  Curve  12  C  represents  1886 
and  1897 — the  years  of  a  Thursday  maximum — similarly  multi- 
plied by  1.5.  In  Curve  12  D  we  have  the  results  of  1887 — the 
year  of  a  Friday  maximum — again  multiplied  by  three;  and  in 
Curve  12  E  those  of  1893  and  1895— the  years  of  a  Saturday 
maximum — multiplied  by  1.5.  Finally,  Curve  12  F  represents 
the  combined  results  of  all  nine  years  plus  (the  latter  half  of) 
1891,  and  this  curve  shows  that,  on  the  whole  period,  there  is  a 
very  strongly  marked  Sunday  maximum. 

I  liardly  think  that  these  curves  call  for  much  comment. 
In  their  general  character  they  display  a  notable  concord  among 


^  As  will  be  obsen-cd,  I  have  omitted  tlie  results  of  the  ineoin|)letely 
recorded  years  of  ISSO  and  ISDl.  Tlie  a|)parenl  explanation  of  tliis 
curious  oscillation   will   be  given   directly. 


SEXUAL    PERIODICITY    IN    MEN.  229 

themselves,  and  it  is  significant  that  the  most  regular  of  the  five 
curves  are  A  and  £J,  representing  the  combinations  of  three 
years  and  of  two  3^ears,  respectively,  while  the  least  regular  is  B, 
which  is  based  upon  the  records  of  one  year  only.  In  every  case 
we  find  that  the  maximum  which  opens  the  week  is  rapidly  suc- 
ceeded bv  a  minimum,  which  is  itself  succeeded  bv  a  secondarv 
maximum, — usually  very  secondary,  although  in  1894  it  nearly 
equals  the  primary  maximum, — followed  again  by  a  second  mini- 
mum— usually  nearly  identical  with  the  first  minimum, — after 
which  there  is  a  rapid  rise  to  the  original  maximum.  The  study 
of  these  curves  fortunately  amplifies  the  conclusion  drawn  from 
our  study  of  the  annual  rhythm,  and  suggests  that,  in  at  least 
part  of  the  year,  the  physiological  condition  of  man  requires 
sexual  union  at  least  twice  a  week. 

As  to  Curve  12  F,  its  remarkable  symmetry  speaks  for  itself. 
The  existence  of  two  secondary  maxima,  however,  has  not  the 
same  significance  as  had  that  of  our  secondary  maximum  in  the 
preceding  curves,  for  one  of  these  secondary  maxima  is  due  to 
the  influence  of  the  189-1  curve  with  its  primary  Tuesday  maxi- 
mum, and  the  other  to  the  similar  influence  of  Curve  C,  with  its 
primary  Thursday  maximum.  Similarly,  the  veiled  third  sec- 
ondary maximum  is  due  to  the  influence  of  Curve  E.  Probably, 
any  student  of  curves  will  concede  that,  on  a  still  larger  average, 
the  two  secondary  maxima  of  Curve  F  would  be  replaced  by  a 
single  one  on  Wednesday  or  Thursday. 

One  more  question  remains  for  consideration  in  connection 
with  this  weekly  rhythm.  Is  it  possible  to  trace  any  connection 
between  the  weekly  and  yearly  rhythms  of  such  a  character  that 
the  Aveekly  day  of  maximum  discharge  should  vary  from  month 
to  month  in  the  year;  in  other  words,  does  the  greater  frequency 
of  a  Sunday  discharge  characterize  one  part  of  the  year,  that  of 
a  Tuesday  another,  and  so  on?  In  order  to  answer  this  question 
I  have  recalculated  all  my  data,  with  results  that  are  graphically 
represented  in  Chart  13.  These  curves  prove  that  the  Sunday 
maxima  discharges  occur  in  March-September,  and  the  minima 
in  June;  that  the  Monday  maxima  discharges  occur  in  Septem- 
ber, Friday  in  July,  and  so  on.    Thus,  there  is  a  regular  rhythm, 


230  APPENDIX    B. 

aecordinof  to  which  the  davs  of  maximum  discharsre  varv  from 
one  month  of  the  year  to  another;  and  the  existence  of  this  final 
rhythm  appears  to  me  very  remarkable.  I  would  especially  direct 
attention  to  the  almost  geometric  symmetry  of  the  Sunday  curve, 
and  to  the  only  less  complete  symmetry  of  the  Thursday  and 
Fridav  curves.  Certainlv  in  these  rhvthms  we  have  an  ample 
field  for  farther  study  and  speculation. 

I  have  now  completed  my  study  of  this  fascinating  inquiry: 
a  study  that  is  necessarily  incomplete,  since  it  is  based  upon  rec- 
ords furnished  by  one  individual  only.  The  fact,  however,  that, 
even  with  so  few  observations,  and  notwithstanding  the  conse- 
quently-exaggerated  disturbing  infiuence  of  minor  irregularities, 
such  remarkable  and  unexpected  symmetry  is  evidenced  by  these 
curves,  only  increases  one's  desire  to  have  the  opportunity  of 
handlincf  a  series  of  observations  sufficientlv  numerous  to  render 
the  generalizations  induced  from  them  absolutely  conclusive.  I 
would  again  appeaP  to  heads  of  colleges  to  assist  this  inquiry  by 
enlisting  in  its  aid  a  band  of  students.  If  only  one  hundred  stu- 
dents, living  under  similar  condition?,  could  be  induced  to  keep 
such  records  with  scrupulous  regularity  for  only  twelve  months, 
the  results  induced  from  such  a  series  of  observations  would  be 
more  than  ten  times  as  valuable  as  those  which  have  only  been 
reached  after  ten  years'  observations  on  my  part;  and,  if  other 
centuries  of  students  in  foreign  and  colonial  colleges — e.g.,  in 
Italy,  India,  Australia,  and  America — could  be  similarly  enlisted 
in  this  work,  we  should  quickly  obtain  a  series  of  results  exhibit- 
ing the  sexual  needs  and  sexual  peculiarities  of  the  male  human 
animal  in  various  climates.  Obviously,  however,  the  records  of 
any  such  students  would  Ik?  worse  than  useless  unless  their  care 
and  accuracy,  on  the  one  hand,  and  their  habitual  chastity,  on 
the  other,  could  be  implicitly  guaranteed.  I  am  afraid  that  the 
necessity  of  imposing  this  latter  condition  will  render  it  cxceed- 
inglv  difficult  t''^  "btnin  -nrh  rrsults  as  are  recjuired 


'See  "Rhythm  of  the  Pulse,"  p.  21 


APPENDIX  C. 


THE  AUTO-EEOTIC  FACTOE  IX  EELIGIOX. 

The  intimate  association  between  the  emotions  of  love  and 
religion  is  well  known  to  all  those  who  are  habitually  brought 
into  close  contact  with  the  phenomena  of  the  religious  life.  Love 
and  religion  are  the  two  most  volcanic  emotions  to  which  the 
human  organism  is  liable,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that,  when 
there  is  a  disturbance  in  one  of  these  spheres,  the  vibrations 
should  readily  extend  to  the  other.  Xor  is  it  surprising  that  the 
two  emotions  should  have  a  dynamic  relation  to  each  other,  and 
that  the  auto-erotic  impulse,  being  the  more  primitive  and  funda- 
mental of  the  two  impulses,  should  be  able  to  pass  its  imex- 
pended  energy  over  to  the  religious  emotion,  there  to  find  the 
expansion  hitherto  denied  it,  the  love  of  the  human  becoming 
the  love  of  the  divine. 

"I  was  not  good  enough  for  man. 
And  so  am  given  to  God." 

Even  when  there  is  absolute  physical  suppression  on  the  sex- 
ual side,  it  seems  probable  that  thereby  a  greater  rutensity  of 
spiritual  fervor  is  caused.  ]\Iany  eminent  thinkers  seem  to  have 
been  without  sexual  desire.  And  the  one  woman  who  has  pro- 
foundly modified  the  destinies  of  Europe  was  destitute  of  the 
physical  manifestations  of  womanhood:  Joan  of  Arc  never  men- 
struated. 

It  is  a  noteworthy  and  significant  fact  that  the  age  of  love 
is  also  the  age  of  conversion.  Starbuck,  for  instance,  in  his  very 
elaborate  study  of  the  psychology  of  conversion  shows  that  the 
majority  of  conversions  take  place  during  the  period  of  adoles- 
cence: that  is,  from  the  age  of  puberty  to  about  24  or  25.^ 


-  Starbuck.  "The  Psychology  of  Eeligion."  1S99.    Also  A.  H.  Daniels, 
'The  Xew  Life."  American  Journal  of  Psvchologv.  vol.  vi.  1893. 


(231) 


232  APPENDIX    C. 

It  would  be  easy  to  bring  forward  a  long  series  of  observa- 
tions, from  the  most  various  points  of  view,  to  show  the  wide 
recognition  of  this  close  aflinity  between  the  sexual  and  the  re- 
ligious emotions.  It  is  probable,  as  Hahn  points  out,  that  the 
connection  between  sexual  suppression  and  religious  rites,  which 
we  may  trace  at  the  very  beginning  of  culture,  was  due  to  an 
instinctive  impulse  to  heighten  rather  than  abolish  the  sexual 
element.  Early  religious  rites  were  largely  sexual  and  orgiastic 
because  they  were  largely  an  appeal  to  the  generative  forces  of 
Xature  to  exhibit  a  beneficial  productiveness.  Among  happily- 
married  people,  as  Hahn  remarks,  the  sexual  emotions  rapidly 
give  place  to  the  cares  and  anxieties  involved  in  supporting  chil- 
dren; but  when  the  exercise  of  the  sexual  function  is  prevented 
by  celibacy,  or  even  by  castration,  the  most  complete  form  of 
celibacy,  the  sexual  emotions  may  pass  into  the  psychical  sphere 
to  take  on  a  more  pronounced  shape. ^  The  early  Christians 
adopted  the  traditional  Eastern  association  between  religion  and 
celibacy,  and,  as  the  writings  of  the  Fathers  amply  show,  they 
expended  on  sexual  matters  a  concentrated  fervor  of  thought 
rarely  known  to  the  Greek  and  Roman  writers  of  the  best  period. 
As  Christian  theology  developed,  the  minute  inquisition  into  sex- 
ual things  sometimes  became  almost  an  obsession.  So  far  as  I  am 
aware,  however  (I  cannot  profess  to  have  made  any  special  investi- 
gation), it  was  not  until  the  late  middle  ages  that  there  is  any  clear 
recognition  of  the  fact  that  between  the  religious  emotions  and 
the  sexual  emotions  there  is  not  only  a  superficial  antagonism, 
but  an  underlying  relationship.  In  the  fourteenth  century  the 
wise  old  Knight  of  the  Tower,  Landry,  tells  his  daughters  that 
"no  young  woman,  in  love,  can  ever  serve  her  God  with  that 
unfeignedness  which  she  did  aforetime.  For  I  have  heard  it 
argued  by  many  who,  in  their  young  days,  had  been  in  love  that, 
when  they  were  in  the  church,  the  condition  and  the  pleasing 
melancholy  in  which  they  found  themselves  would  infallibly  set 
them  brooding  over  all  their  tender  love-sick  longings  and  all 


•  Ed.  Halm,  "Deineter  und  Baubo,"  1896,  pp.  50-51.  Hahn  is  argu- 
ing for  the  religious  origin  of  tlio  plough,  as  a  generative  implement, 
drawn  by  a  sacred  and  castrated  animal,  the  ox. 


THE    AUTO-EROTIC    FACTOR    IN    RELIGION.  233 

their  amorous  passages,  when  they  should  have  been  attending  to 
the  service  which  was  going  on  at  the  time.  And  such  is  the 
property  of  this  mystery  of  love  that  it  is  ever  at  the  moment 
when  the  priest  is  holding  our  Saviour  upon  the  altar  that  the 
most  enticing  emotions  come.''  And  after  narrating  the  history 
of  two  queens  beyond  the  seas  who  indulged  in  amours  even  on 
Holy  Thursday  and  Good  Friday,  at  midnight  in  their  oratories, 
when  the  lights  were  put  out,  he  concludes:  "Every  woman  in 
love  is  more  liable  to  fall  in  church  or  at  her  devotion  than  at 
any  other  time."  To  come  down  to  more  recent  times,  in  our 
OAvn  century  the  head-master  of  Clifton  College,  when  discussing 
the  sexual  vices  of  boyhood,  remarks  that  the  boys  whose  tem- 
perament exposes  them  to  these  faults  are  usually  far  from  desti- 
tute of  religious  feelings;  that  there  is,  and  always  has  been,  an 
undoubted  co-existence  of  religion  and  animalism;  that  emotional 
appeals  and  revivals  are  far  from  rooting  out  carnal  sin;  and 
that  in  some  places,  as  is  well  known,  they  seem  actually  to  stim- 
ulate, even  at  the  present  day,  to  increased  licentiousness.^'^  A 
century  ago,  Casanova,  looking  at  the  matter  from  a  very  different 
stand-point,  and  after  referring  to  "that  mingling  of  mysticism 
and  concupiscence  which  seethes  in  a  Spanish  heart,"  goes  on 
to  say:  "I  have  everywhere  observed  that  devout  women  are  more 
sensitive  than  others  to  carnal  pleasures." 

The  relationship  of  the  sexual  and  the  religious  emotions — 
like  so  many  other  of  the  essential  characters  of  human  nature — 
is  seen  in  its  nakedest  shape  by  the  alienist.  Esquirol  referred 
to  this  relationship,  and,  many  years  ago,  J.  B.  Friedreich,  a 
German  alienist  of  wide  outlook  and  considerable  insight,  em- 
phasized the  connection  between  the  sexual  and  the  religious 
emotions,  and  brought  forward  illustrative  cases.-  Schroder  Van 
der  Kolk  also  remarked:  "I  venture  to  express  my  conviction 
that  we  should  rarely  err  if,  in  a  case  of  religious  melancholy. 


^  Rev.  J.  M.  Wilson,  Journal  of  Education,  1881.  At  about  the 
same  period  (1882)  Spurgeon  pointed  out  in  one  of  his  sermons  that  by  a 
strange  yet  natural  law  excess  of  spirituality  is  next  door  to  sensuality. 

-  "System  der  gerichtlichen  Psychologic,"  second  edition,  1842,  pp. 
266-68;  and  more  at  length  in  his  "Allgemeine  Diagnostik  der  psy- 
chischen  Krankheiten,  second  edition,  1832,  pp.  247-51. 


234  APPENDIX    C. 

we  assumed  the  sexual  apparatus  to  be  implicated."^  R^gis,  in 
France,  lays  it  down  that  ^'there  exists  a  close  connection  be- 
tween mystic  ideas  and  erotic  ideas,  and  most  often  these  two 
orders  of  conception  are  associated  in  insanity."-  Berthier  con- 
sidered that  erotic  forms  of  insanity  are  those  most  frequently 
found  in  convents.  Beavan  Lewis  points  out  how  frequently 
religious  exaltation  occurs  at  puberty  in  women,  and  religious 
depression  at  the  climacteric,  the  period  of  sexual  decline."  "Re- 
ligion is  very  closely  allied  to  love,"  remarks  Savage,  "and  the 
love  of  w^oman  and  the  worship  of  God  are  constantly  sources  of 
trouble  in  unstable  youth;  it  is  very  interesting  to  note  the  fre- 
quency with  which  these  two  deep  feelings  are  associated.''* 
"Closely  connected  with  salacity,  particularly  in  women," 
remarks  Conolly  Xorman,  when  discussing  mania  (Tuke's  "Dic- 
tionary of  Psychological  Medicine"),  "is  religious  excitement. 
.  .  .  Ecstasy,  as  we  see  in  cases  of  acute  mental  disease, 
is  probably  always  connected  with  sexual  excitement,  if  not 
with  sexual  depravity.  The  same  association  is  constantly 
seen  in  less  extreme  cases,  and  one  of  the  commonest  features 
in  the  conversation  of  an  acutely  maniacal  woman  is  the  inter- 
mingling of  erotic  and  religious  ideas."  Ball,  Brouardel,  Morselli, 
C.  H.  Hughes,'"'  to  mention  but  a  few  names  among  many,  have 
emphasized  the  same  point. "^  Recently  Vallon  and  Marie  have 
published  a  valuable  study  of  religious  psychoses  ("Des  Psychoses 
Religieuses,"  Archives  de  Neurologie,  1897);  one  of  their  cases  mas- 
turljated  licrself  with  a  crucifix,  believing  that  she  thus  sancti- 
fied the  act;  and  they  refer  to  a  case  of  circular  insanity,  recorded 
by  Morel,  in  which  the  subject  believed  herself  to  be,  by  turns, 
a  nun  and  a  prostitute.  Krafft-Ebing  deals  briefly  Avith  the  con- 
nection between  holiness  aud  the  sexual  emotion,  and  tbo  special 


^  "HandboeU  van  de  Pathologie  on  Thorapie  der  Krankzinniijhoid," 
1803.     r.   139  of  Knjrlish  odition. 

-"Manuel  pratique  de  Mrdecine  mentale,"  1802,  p.  31. 

=*  "Text-book   of  Mental   Diseases,"  p.  393. 

*G.  n.  Savaj,'e,  "Insanity,"   188(5. 

'^  "Erotopatliia,"  Alienist  and  Neurologist,  Oetober,  1893. 

"Reference  may  be  sj)ecially  made  to  the  interesting  chapter  on 
"D^'Jire  Pvcligieux"  in  Teard's  "\a\  Femme  pendant  In  jx'riode  Men- 
struelle,"  pp.  211-2.34. 


THE    ALTO-KKOTIC    FACTOR    IX    RELIGION.  235 

liability  of  the  saints  to  sexual  temptations;  he  thus  states  his 
own  conclusions:  "Keligious  and  sexual  emotional  states  at  the 
height  of  their  development  exhibit  a  harmony  in  quantity  and 
quality  of  excitement,  and  can  thus  in  certain  circumstances  act 
vicariously.  Both,"  he  adds,  "can  be  converted  into  cruelty  un- 
der pathological  conditions."^ ^ 

After  quoting  these  opinions  it  is,  perhaps,  not  unnecessary 
to  point  out  that,  while  sexual  emotion  constitutes  the  main 
reservoir  of  energy  on  which  religion  can  draw,  it  is  far  from 
constituting  either  the  whole  content  of  religion  or  its  root. 
Murisier,  in  an  able  study  of  the  psychology  of  religious  ecstasy, 
justly  protests  against  too  crude  an  explanation  of  its  nature, 
though  at  the  same  time  he  admits  that  "'the  passion  of  the  re- 
ligious ecstatic  lacks  nothing  of  what  goes  to  make  up  sexual 
love,  not  even  jealousy.''- 

Serieux,  in  his  little  work,  "Recherches  Cliniques  sur  les 
Anomalies  de  Tlnstinct  SexueP'  (Paris.  1888),  A^aluable  on  ac- 
count of  its  instructive  cases,  records  in  detail  a  case  which  so 
admirably  illustrates  this  phase  of  auto-erotism  on  the  border- 
land between  ordinary  erotic  day-dreaming  and  religious  mys- 
ticism, the  phenomena  for  a  time  reaching  an  insane  degree  of 
intensity,  that  I  reproduce  it. 

"Therese  M.,  aged  2-i,  shows  ph^^sical  stigmata  of  degenera- 
tion. The  heredity  is  also  bad;  the  father  is  a  mason,  a  man  of 
reckless  and  irregular  conduct,  neglecting  his  family;  the  mother 
was  at  one  time  in  a  lunatic  asylum,  and  died  of  a  disease  of  the 
stomach. 

"The  patient  was  brought  up  in  an  orphanasx.  and  was  a 
troublesome,  volatile  child;  she  treated  household  occupations 
with  contempt,  but  was  fond  of  study.    Even  at  an  early  age  her 


'  "Psychopatliia  Sexualis."  eiohth  edition,  pp.  8  and  11. 

-  E.  iVrnrisier.  "T.e  Sontiinent  Relifjionx  dans  I'Extase."  Revue  Philo- 
sophique.  November,  1898.  Starbuck.  pofain  ("Psycholoory  of  K'^^lision," 
Chapter  XXX).  in  a  brief  discussion  of  this  point,  concludes  that  "the 
sexual  life,  althonjrh  it  has  left  its  impress  on  fully  developed  religion, 
seems  to  have  oriofiually  fi^iven  the  psychic  impulse  Mhich  called  out  the 
latent  possibilities  of  developments  rather  than  to  have  furnished  the 
raw  material  out  of  which  relisrion  was  constructed." 


236  APPENDIX    C. 

lively  imagination  attracted  attention,  and  the  pleasure  which 
she  took  in  building  castles  in  the  air.  From  the  age  of  seven 
to  ten  she  masturbated.  At  her  first  communion  she  felt  that 
Jesus  would  for  ever  be  the  one  master  of  her  heart.  At  thir- 
teen, after  the  death  of  her  mother,  she  seemed  to  see  her,  and 
to  hear  her  say  that  she  was  watching  over  her  child.  Shortly 
afterward  she  was  overwhelmed  by  a  new  grief,  the  death  of  a 
teacher  for  whom  she  cherished  great  affection  on  account  of  her 
pure  character.  On  the  following  days  she  seemed  to  see  and 
hear  this  teacher,  and  would  not  leave  the  house  where  the  body 
lay.  Tendencies  to  melancholy  appeared;  she  would  cry  and  be 
miserable  without  cause,  compose  sad  verses,  and  long  for  death. 
Saddened  by  the  funeral  ceremonies,  exhorted  by  nuns,  fed  on 
mystic  revery,  she  passed  from  the  orphanage  to  a  convent. 

"She  devoted  herself  solely  to  the  worship  of  Jesus;  to  be 
like  Jesus,  to  bear  her  cross  like  Jesus,  to  desire  death  in  order 
to  be  near  Jesus — such  were  henceforth  her  constant  preoccupa- 
tions. The  Virgin's  name  was  rarely  seen  in  her  writings,  God's 
name  never.  'I  wanted,'  she  said,  ^to  love  Jesus  more  than  any 
of  the  nuns  I  saw,  and  I  even  thought  that  he  had  a  partiality  for 
me.'  She  was  also  haunted  by  the  idea  of  preserving  her  purity. 
She  avoided  frivolous  conversation,  and  left  the  room  when  mar- 
riage was  discussed,  such  a  union  being  incompatible  with  a 
pure  life;  ^it  was  my  fixed  idea  for  two  years  to  make  my  soul 
ever  more  pure  in  order  to  be. agreeable  to  Him:  the  beloved  is 
well  pleased  among  the  lilies.' 

"Already,  however,  in  a  rudimentary  form  ap]icared  con- 
trary tendencies  [strictly  speaking  they  were  not  contrary,  but 
related,  tendencies].  Beneath  the  mystic  passion  which  con- 
cealed it  sexual  desire  was  sometimes  felt.  ^It  seemed  to  me  that 
there  was  something  in  my  soul  that  injured  the  purity  T  was 
seeking.'  At  sixteen  she  experienced  emotions  which  she  could 
not  master,  when  thinking  of  a  priest  who,  she  said,  loved  her. 
In  spite  of  all  remorse  she  would  have  l)een  willing  to  have  rela- 
tions with  him.  Notwithstanding  these  passing  weaknesses,  the 
idea  of  purity  always  possessed  her.  The  nuns,  however,  were 
concerned  about  her  exaltation.     She  was  sent  away  from  the 


THE    AUTO-EROTIC    FACTOR    IN    RELIGION.  237 

convent,  became  discouraged,  and  took  a  place  as  a  servant,  but 
her  fervor  continued.  One  Sunday,  at  high  mass,  she  remarked 
that  the  men  were  all  looking  at  her.  During  the  sermon,  the 
preacher  said,  as  he  seemed  to  look  at  her:  'It  is  from  the  eucha- 
ristic  banquet  that  the  Spouse  receives  fecundit}^'  (an  allusion  to 
her  own  fecundit}^  which,  she  said,  became  clear  to  her  later). 
At  night  she  was  tormented  by  unaccountable  lassitude. 

"Her  confessor  inspires  her  with  great  affection;  she  sends 
him  tender  letters.  She  would  be  willing  to  have  relations  with 
him,  even  though  she  considers  the  desire  a  temptation  of  the 
devil. 

"One  day  she  meditated  on  the  words  of  the  Gospel:  'When 
a  woman  is  in  travail  she  is  overcome  by  her  pangs,  but  is  full 
of  joy  when  she  has  brought  a  child  into  the  world.'  Her  con- 
fessor said  to  her:  'You  must  apply  that  to  the  religious  life,'  no 
doubt  because  he  saw  in  her  one  who  was  predestined  to  that  life. 
They  w^ere  seeking  to  make  her  understand,  she  thought  later, 
her  relations  to  Jesus. 

"Her  religious  practices  become  more  fervent  than  ever;  she 
communicates  every  day,  and  returns  to  the  church  in  the  even- 
ing;   she  believes  that  the  preacher  concerns  himself  with  her. 

"The  ground  was  now  prepared  for  the  manifestation  of 
hallucinations.  'One  evening  in  May/  she  writes,  'after  being 
absorbed  in  thoughts  of  my  confessor,  and  feeling  discouraged, 
as  I  thought  that  Jesus,  whom  I  loved  so  much,  would  have  noth- 
ing to  do  with  me,  "Mother,*'  I  cried  out,  "what  must  I  do  to  win 
your  son?"  My  eyes  were  fixed  on  the  sky,  and  I  remained  in 
a  state  of  mad  expectation.  It  was  absurd.  I  to  become  the 
mother  of  the  Word  I  My  heart  went  on  repeating:  ''Yes,  he  is 
coming;  Jesus  is  coming!" '  The  psychic  erethism,  reverberat- 
ing on  the  sensorial  and  sensory  centres,  led  to  genital,  auditory, 
and  visual  hallucinations,  which  produced  the  sensation  of  sexual 
connection.  'For  the  first  time  I  went  to  bed  and  was  not  alone. 
As  soon  as  I  felt  that  touch,  I  heard  the  words:  "Fear  not,  it  is  I.'' 
I  was  lost  in  Him  whom  I  loved.  For  many  days  I  was  cradled 
in  a  world  of  pleasure;  I  saw  Him  everywhere,  overwhelming  me 
with  His  chaste  caresses.'" 


238  APPEJSDIX    c. 

"On  the  followino;  dav  at  mass  she  seemed  to  see  Calvarv 
before  her.  'Jesus  was  naked  and  surrounded  by  a  thousand 
voluptuous  imaginations:  His  arms  were  loosened  from  the  cross, 
and  he  said  to  me:  "'Come!'"  I  longed  to  fly  to  Him  with  my 
body,  but  could  not  make  up  my  mind  to  show  myself  naked. 
However,  I  was  carried  away  by  a  force  I  could  not  control,  I 
threw  myself  on  my  Saviour's  neck,  and  felt  that  all  was  over 
between  the  world  and  me.' 

"From  that  day,  'by  sheer  reasoning,'  she  has  understood 
evervthintr.  Previously  she  thouo:ht  that  the  reli2:ious  life  was 
a  renunciation  of  the  joys  of  marriage  and  enjoyment  generally; 
now  she  understands  its  object.  Jesus  Christ  desires  that  she 
should  have  relations  with  a  priest:  he  is  himself  incarnated  in 
priests:  just  as  St.  Joseph  was  the  guardian  of  -the  Virgin,  so  are 
priests  the  guardians  of  nuns.  She  has  been  impregnated  by 
Jesus,  and  this  imaginary  pregnancy  preoccupies  her  in  the 
hiiJ^hest  degree. 

"From  this  time  she  masturbated  daily.  She  cannot  even 
go  to  communion  without  experiencing  voluptuous  sensations. 

"Her  delusions  having  thus  become  systematized,  nothing 
shakes  her  tenacity  in  seeking  to  carry  them  out;  she  attempts 
at  all  costs  to  have  relations  ^ith  her  confessor,  embraces  him, 
throws  herself  at  his  knees,  pursues  him.  and  so  becomes  a  cause 
of  scandal. 

"When  brought  to  the  asylum,  tiitre  is  intense  sexual  ex- 
citement, and  she  masturbates  a  dozen  times  a  day.  even  when 
talking  to  the  doctor.  The  sexual  organs  are  normal,  the  vulva 
moist  and  red,  the  vagina  is  painful  to  touch:  the  contact  of  the 
finger  causes  erectile  turgescence. 

"She  has  had  no  rest,  she  says,  since  she  has  learned  to  love 
her  Jesus.  He  desires  her  to  have  sexual  relations  with  someone, 
and  she  cannot  succeed:  'all  my  soul's  strength  is  arrested  by 
this  constant  endeavor.'  Her  new  surTOundinsrs  modifv  her  be- 
havior,  and  now  it  is  the  doctor  whom  she  pursues  with  her 
obsessions. 

"'I  expected  everythino:  from  the  charity  of  the  priests  I 
have  known:    I  have  not  deserved  what  I  wanted  from  them. 


THE   AUTO-EBOTIC    FACTOE   IN    EELIGIOK.  2o9 

But  is  not  a  doctor  free  to  do  eTerything  lor  the  good  of  the 
patients  iatrusted  to  him  b}-  Providence?  Cannot  a  doctor  thus 
devote  himself?  Since  I  have  tasted  the  tree  of  life  I  am  tor- 
mented by  the  desire  to  share  it  with  a  loving  friend.'  Then  she 
falls  in  love  with  an  employee,  and  makes  the  crudest  advances 
to  him,  believing  that  she  is  thus  executing  the  will  of  Jesus. 
'Necessity  makes  laws/'  she  exclaims  to  him,  *the  moments  are 
pressing,  I  have  been  waiting  too  long.'  She  still  speaks  of  her 
religious  vocation  which  might  be  compromised  by  so  long  a 
delav.    T  do  not  want  to  oret  married.' 

•'^Every  day  she  writes  letters  in  which  the  wildest  passion 
is  expressed  in  mystical  and  extravagant  phrases,  human  love 
going  hand  in  hand  with  love  of  Jesus.  ^1  feel  Jesus  so  united 
to  me  that  my  exaltation  begins  again,  and  I  am  irresistibly  im- 
pelled to  renew  my  desires  toward  you.' 

''Gradualh'  a  transformation  took  place;  the  love  of  God 
was  effaced  and  earthly  love  became  more  intense  than  ever. 
'Quitting  the  heights  in  which  I  wished  to  soar,  I  am  coming  so 
near  to  earth  that  I  shall  soon  fix  my  desires  there.'  In  a  last 
letter  Therese  recognizes  with  terror  the  insanity  to  which  the 
exaltation  of  her  imagination  had  led  her.  ^ow  I  only  believe 
in  God  and  in  suffering;  I  feel  that  it  is  necessary  for  me  to  get 
married.'" 

!Mariani^  has  verv  fullv  described  a  case  of  erotico-relig'ious 
insanity  (climacteric  paranoia  on  an  hysterical  basis)  in  a  mar- 
ried woman  of  -i-i.  During  the  early  stages  of  her  disorder  she 
inflicted  all  sorts  of  penances  upon  herself  (fasting,  constant 
prayer,  drinking  her  own  urine,  cleaning  dirty  plates  with  her 
tongue,  etc.).  Finally  she  felt  that  by  her  penances  she  had 
obtained  forgiveness  of  her  sins,  and 'then  began  a  stage  of  joy 
and  satisfaction  during  which  she  believed  that  she  had  entered 
into  a  state  of  the  most  intimate  personal  relationship  with  Jesus. 
She  finally  recovered.  Mariani  shows  how  closely  this  history 
corresponds  with  the  histories  of  the  saints,  and  that  all  the  acts 


^  "I7na  Santa,"  Archivio  di  Psichiatria.  vol.  xix.  pp.  438-47.  1898. 


240  APPENDIX   C. 

and  emotions  of  this  woman  can  be  exactly  paralleled  in  the  lives 
of  famous  saints.^ 

The  justice  of  these  comparisons  becomes  manifest  when  we 
turn  to  the  records  that  have  been  left  by  holy  persons.  A  most 
instructive  record  from  this  point  of  view  is  the  autobiography 
of  Soeur  Jeanne  des  Anges,  superior  of  the  Ursulines  of  Loudun 
in  the  seventeenth  century.  She  was  clever,  beautiful,  ambitious, 
fond  of  pleasure,  still  more  of  power.  With  this,  as  often  hap- 
pens, she  was  highly  hysterical,  and  in  the  early  years  of  her 
religious  life  was  possessed  by  various  demons  of  unchastity  and 
blasphemy  with  whom  for  many  years  she  was  in  constant  strug- 
gle. She  fell  in  love  with  a  priest  of  Loudun,  Grandier,,a  man 
whom  she  had  never  even  seen,  only  knowing  of  him  as  a  pow- 
erful and  fascinating  personality  at  whose  feet  all  women  fell, 
and  she  imagined  that  she  and  the  other  nuns  of  her  convent 
were  possessed  through  his  influence.  She  was  thus  the  cause 
of  the  trial  and  execution  of  Grandier,  a  famous  case  in  the  annals 
of  witchcraft.  In  her  autobiography  Soeur  Jeanne  describes  in 
detail  how  the  demons  assailed  her  at  night,  appearing  in  las- 
civious attitudes,  making  indecent  proposals,  raising  the  bed- 
clothes, touching  all  parts  of  her  body,  imploring  her  to  yield  to 
them,  and  she  tells  how  strong  her  temptation  was  to  yield.  On 
one  night,  for  instance,  she  writes:  "I  seemed  to  feel  someone's 
breath,  and  I  heard  a  voice  saying:  'The  time  for  resistance  has 
gone  by,  you  must  no  longer  rebel;  by  putting  off  your  consent 
to  what  has  been  proposed  you  will  be  injured;  you  cannot  per- 
sist in  this  resistance;  God  has  subjected  you  to  the  demands  of 
a  nature  which  you  must  satisfy  on  occasions  so  urgent.'  Then 
I  felt  impure  impressions  in  my  imagination  and  disordered 
movements  in  my  body.  I  persisted  in  saying  at  the  bottom  of 
my  heart  that  I  would  do  nothing.  I  turned  to  God  and  asked 
Him  for  strength  in  this  extraordinary  struggle. 

"Then  there  was  a  loud  noise  in  my  room,  and  I  felt  as  if 
someone  had  approached  me  and  put  his  hand  into  my  bed  and 


'  \\  ilii  n-^ard  to  the  sexual  element  in  the  w  orshij)  of  the  Virfrin, 
see  "Ueber  den  ^Taricncnltus,"  L.  Feiierbacli's  "Saiiniitliche  Werke."  B. 
1,   1846. 


THE    ALTO-EROTIC    FACTOR   IN    RELIGION.  341 

touched  me;  and  having  perceived  this  I  rose,  in  a  state  of  rest- 
lessness, which  lasted  for  a  long  time  afterward. 

^'Sonie  days  later,  at  midnight,  I  began  to  tremble  all  over 
my  body  as  I  lay  in  bed,  and  to  experience  much  mental  anxiety 
without  knowing  the  cause.  After  this  had  lasted  for  some  time 
I  heard  noises  in  various  parts  of  my  room;  the  sheet  was  twice 
pulled  without  entirely  uncovering  me;  the  oratory  close  to  my 
bed  was  upset.  I  heard  a  voice  on  the  left  side,  toward  which  I 
was  lying.  I  was  asked  if  I  had  thought  over  the  advantageous 
offer  that  had  been  made  to  me.  It  was  added:  ^I  have  come  to 
know  your  reply;  I  will  keep  my  promise  if  you  will  give  your 
consent;  if,  on  the  contrary,  you  refuse,  you  will  be  the  most 
miserable  girl  in  the  world,  and  all  sorts  of  mischances  will  hap- 
pen to  you.^  I  replied:  'If  there  were  no  God  I  would  fear  those 
threats;  I  am  consecrated  to  Him.^  It  was  replied  to  me:  'You 
will  not  get  much  help  from  God;  He  will  abandon  you.'  I  re- 
plied: 'God  is  my  father;  He  will  take  care  of  me;  I  have  re- 
solved to  be  faithful  to  Him.'  He  said:  'I  will  o^ive  vou  three 
days  to  think  over  it.'  I  rose  and  went  to  the  Holy  Sacrament 
with  an  anxious  mind. 

"Having  returned  to  my  room,  and  being  seated  on  a  chair, 
it  was  drawn  from  under  me  so  that  I  fell  on  the  floor.  Then 
the  same  things  happened  again.  I  heard  a  man's  voice  saying 
lascivious  and  pleasant  things  to  seduce  me;  he  pressed  me  to 
ofive  him  room  in  mv  bed;  he  tried  to  touch  me  in  an  indecent 
way;  I  resisted  and  prevented  him,  calling  the  nuns  who  were 
near  my  room;  the  window  had  been  open,  it  was  closed;  I  felt 
strong  movements  of  love  for  a  certain  person,  and  improper 
desire  for  dishonorable  things." 

She  writes  again,  at  a  later  period:  "These  impurities  and 
the  fire  of  concupiscence  which  the  evil  spirit  caused  me  to  feel, 
beyond  all  that  I  can  say,  forced  me  to  throw  myself  on  to  braziers 
of  hot  coal,  where  I  would  remain  for  half  an  hour  at  a  time,  in 
order  to  extinguish  that  other  fire,  so  that  half  my  body  was  quite 
burnt.  At  other  times,  in  the  depth  of  winter,  I  have  sometimes 
passed  part  of  the  night  entirely  naked  in  the  snow,  or  in  tubs 
of  icy  water.    I  have  besides  often  gone  among  thorns  so  that  I 

16 


242  APPENDIX    C. 

have  been  torn  by  them;  at  other  times  I  have  rolled  in  nettles, 
and  I  have  passed  whole  nights  def3dng  my  enemies  to  attack 
me,  and  assuring  them  that  I  was  resolved  to  defend  myself  with 
the  grace  of  God/^  With  her  confessor's  permission,  she  also  had 
an  iron  girdle  made,  with  spikes,  and  wore  this  day  and  night 
for  nearly  six  months  until  the  spikes  so  entered  her  flesh  that 
the  girdle  could  only  be  removed  with  difficulty.  By  means  of 
these  austerities  she  succeeded  in  almost  exorcising  the  demons 
of  unchastity,  and  a  little  later,  after  a  severe  illness,  of  which 
she  believed  that  she  was  miraculously  cured  by  St.  Joseph,  she 
appeared  before  the  world  almost  as  a  saint,  herself  possessing 
a  miraculous  power  of  healing;  she  traveled  through  France, 
bringing  healing  wherever  she  went;  the  king,  the  queen,  and 
Cardinal  Eichelieu  were  at  her  feet,  and  so  great  became  the  fame 
of  her  holiness  that  her  tomb  was  a  shrine  for  pilgrims  for  more 
than  a  century  after  her  death.  It  was  not  until  late  in  life, 
and  after  her  autobiography  terminates,  that  sexual  desire  in 
Soeur  Jeanne  (though  its  sting  seems  never  to  have  quite  disap- 
peared) became  transformed  into  passionate  love  of  Jesus,  and 
it  is  only  in  her  later  letters  that  we  catch  glimpses  of  the  com- 
plete transmutation.  Thus,  in  one  of  her  later  letters  we  read: 
"I  cried  with  ardor,  'Lord!  join  me  to  Thyself,  transform  Thy- 
self into  me  I'  It  seemed  to  me  that  that  lovable  Spouse  was 
reposing  in  my  heart  as  on  His  throne.  What  makes  me  almost 
swoon  with  love  and  admiration  is  a  certain  pleasure  which  it 
seems  to  me  that  He  takes  when  all  my  being  flows  into  His, 
restoring  to  Him  with  respect  and  love  all  that  He  has  given  to 
me.  Sometimes  I  have  permission  to  speak  to  our  Lord  with  more 
familiarity,  calling  Him  my  Love,  interesting  Him  in  all  that  I 
ask  of  Him,  as  well  for  myself  as  for  others." 

The  lives  of  all  the  great  saints  and  m3^stics,  St.  Theresa's 
especially,  bear  witness  to  operations  similar  to  those  so  vividly 
described  by  Soeur  Jeanne  des  Anges,  though  it  is  very  rarely 
that  any  saint  has  so  frankly  presented  the  dynamic  mechanism 
of  the  auto-erotic  process.  The  indications  they  give  us,  how- 
ever, are  sufficiently  clear.  It  is  enough  to  ref(M-  to  the  special 
niVf'ctioii  wliicli  llie  mvstics  have  ever  borne  toward  the  Song  of 


THE    AUTO-EROTIC    FACTOR    IN    KELIGIOX.  243 

Songs,  and  to  note  how  the  most  earthly  expressions  of  love  in 
that  poem  enter  as  a  perpetual  refrain  into  their  writings.^ 

The  courage  of  the  early  Christian  martyrs,  it  is  abundantly 
evident,  was  in  part  supported  by  an  exaltation  which  they  frankly 
drew  from  the  sexual  impulse.  Felicula,  we  are  told  in  the  acts 
of  Achilles  and  Xereus,-  preferred  imprisonment,  torture,  and 
death  to  marriage  or  pagan  sacrifices.  When  on  the  rack  she  was 
bidden  to  deny  Christianity,  she  exclaimed:  ''Ego  non  nego  ama- 
torem  meumV — I  will  not  deny  my  lover  who  for  my  sake  has 
eaten  gall  and  drunk  vinegar,  crowned  with  thorns,  and  fastened 
to  the  cross. 

If  finally  wc  turn  to  the  most  popular  devotional  work  that 
was  ever  written,  '*The  Imitation  of  Christ,^^  we  shall  find  that 
the  "love*'  there  expressed  is  precisely  and  exactly  the  love  that 
finds  its  motive  power  in  the  emotions  aroused  by  a  person  of  the 
other  sex.  (A  very  intellectual  woman  once  remarked  to  me  that 
the  book  seemed  to  her  ^^a  sort  of  religious  aphrodisiac. '')  M  we 
read,  for  instance.  Book  III,  Chapter  V,  of  this  work  ("De  Mira- 
bili  affectu  Divini  amoris''),  we  shall  find  in  the  eloquence  of 
this  solitary  monk  in  the  Low  Countries  neither  more  nor  less 
tlian  the  emotions  of  every  human  lover  at  their  highest  limit 
of  exaltation.  ''Xothing  is  sweeter  than  love,  nothing  stronger, 
nothing  higher,  nothing  broader,  nothing  pleasanter,  nothing 
fuller  nor  better  in  heaven  or  in  earth.  He  who  loves,  flies,  runs, 
and  rejoices:  he  is  free  and  cannot  be  held.  He  gives  all  in  ex- 
change for  all,  and  possesses  all  in  all.  He  looks  not  at  gifts,  but 
turns  to  the  giver  above  all  good  things.  Love  knows  no  meas- 
ure, but  is  fervent  beyond  all  measure.  Love  feels  no  burden, 
thinks  nothing  of  labor,  strives  beyond  its  force,  reckons  not  of 
impossibility,  for  it  judges  that  all  things  are  possible.  There- 
fore it  attempts  all  things,  and  therefore  it  eff^ects  much  when  he 
who  is  not  a  lover  fails  and  falls.  .  .  .  My  Love!  thou  all 
mine,  and  I  all  thine."' 


^  Thus,  in  St.  Theresa's  "Coneeptos  del  Amor  de  Dios."  the  words 
"Beseme  con  el  heso  de  sii  boca" — Let  him  kiss  me  with  the  kisses  of 
his  movith — constantly  recur. 

=  "Acta  Sanctoriim.*'  Mav  12th. 


244  APPENDIX    C. 

There  is  a  certain  natural  disinclination  in  many  quarters 
to  recognize  any  special  connection  between  the  sexual  emotions 
and  the  religious  emotions.  But  this  attitude  is  not  reasonable. 
A  man  who  is  swayed  by  religious  emotions  cannot  be  held  re- 
sponsible for  the  indirect  emotional  results  of  his  condition;  he 
can  be  held  responsible  for  their  control.  Xothing  is  gained  by 
refusing  to  face  the  possibility  that  such  control  may  be  neces- 
sar}^,  and  much  is  lost.  There  is  certainly,  as  I  have  tried  to 
indicate,  good  reason  to  think  that  the  action  and  interaction 
between  the  spheres  of  sexual  and  religious  emotion  are  very  inti- 
mate. The  obscure  promptings  of  the  organism  at  puberty  fre- 
quently assume  on  the  psychic  side  a  wholly  religious  character; 
the  activity  of  the  religious  emotions  sometimes  tends  to  pass 
over  into  the  sexual  region;  the  suppression  of  the  sexual  emo- 
tions often  furnishes  a  powerful  reservoir  of  energy  to  the  relig- 
ious emotions:  occasionally  the  suppressed  sexual  emotions 
break  throus:h  all  obstacles. 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORS. 


Abiicosoff,  G.,  142. 

Adinsell,  53,  54. 

^Egineta,  Paulus,  100. 

,Elian,  212. 

Aetius,  70,  100. 

Aitkin,  159. 

Albrecht,  G9. 

Allin,   5. 

Angelucci,   146. 

Anges,  Soeur  Jeanne  des,  240. 

Angus,  H.  C,  13. 

Anstie,   128,  176. 

Apuleius,  18. 

Aquinas,  St.  Thomas,  129. 

Aretajus,  18,  141,  142,  198. 

Aristophanes,  117. 

Arnould,  66. 

Ashwell,  161. 

Athenaus,  18. 

Axenfeld,  145. 

Azava,  52. 

Baker,  Smith,  188. 

Baldwin,  J.  M.,  28. 

Ball,  147,  234. 

Ballantyne,  65. 

Ballion,  34. 

Balls-Headley.  143. 

Bancroft,  H.  H.,  85. 

Baraduc,  176. 

Barnes,  63. 

Barrus,  Clara,  179. 

Bartels,  Max,  27,  60,  64,  85,  86,  96, 

207,  208,  213. 
Bastian,  9. 
Bastanzi,  212. 
Batut,  15. 
Bazalgette,  128. 
Beard,  57. 

Beard,  J.,  60,  70,  76. 
Bekkers,  176. 
Berger,  165,  166. 
Berkhan,  180. 
Berthier,  234. 
Beukemann,  95,  97. 
Beuttner,  58. 


115, 


Biernaeki,  162,   163. 

Billuart,  129. 

Binet,  105. 

Binswanger,  187. 

Binz,  67. 

Blackwell,  Elizabeth,  66,  131. 

Blandford,  168. 

Block,   168. 

Blumenbach,  114. 

Boethius,  36. 

Bohnius,  55. 

Bolton,  T.  L.,  50. 

Borden,  66. 

Bossi,  58. 

Boudin,  208. 

Bourke,  J.  G.,  31,  88,  213. 

Breuer,  136,  149,  150,  151,  152,  153,  154, 

155,  160. 
Briquet,  143,  145,  147. 
Brouardel,  234. 
Buchanan,  167. 
Buffon,  55,  70. 
Bunge,  163. 
Burdach,  57. 
Burk,  F.,  105. 
Burr,  132. 

Burton,  Robert.   39,  45. 
Burton,  Sir  R.,  117. 

Caiger,  108. 

Cameron,  32. 

Campbell,  H.,  6,  45.  69.  70. 

Carpenter,  E.,  202. 

Carrara,  12. 

Casanova,  2,  33.  46,  233. 

Chapman,  176,  177. 

Charcot,   144,   145.   146,   148,  149,   150, 

151,  153,  154,  155,  156,  157,  158. 
Charrin,  163. 
Chaucer,  33,  102.  129. 
Christian,   116,   176.   180,   181. 
Clark,  Campbell,  69. 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  19,  20,  33. 
Clement  of  Rome,  19. 
Clipson,  176. 
Clouston,  70,  71.  143,  185,  192. 

(245) 


2-i6 


INDEX. 


Cue.    11.    C    192. 

Colin,  llerniann,  UiO,  177,  203. 

Cohn,  Salmo,  178. 

Colenso,  W.,  208. 

Collins,  187. 

Cook,  Captain.  31. 

Cook,  Dr.,  52.  84. 

Corre,  101. 

Cor  vat,  22. 

Crawley,  A.  G.,  31,  205,  200. 

Cricliton-Browne,  Sir  J.,  102,  lOG. 

Crooke,  W.,  87. 

Croom,  Halliday,  53. 

Cullen,  101. 

Cullingworth,  54. 

Curr,  7. 

Curschniann.  182.  184. 

Cuvier,  55. 

Dallemagne,  191. 

Dalton,  E.  T.,  11.  8G,  87. 

Ualziel,  82. 

Dana,  172. 

Dandinus,  45. 

Daniels,  231. 

Darwin,  50. 

Davidsohn,  C,   10. 

De  Bonneval,  Conite,  46. 

De  Coiirniont,  R..  21. 

Deniker,  11.  50,  99. 

Dennis,  G.,  18. 

Denuce,  119. 

Depaul,  53. 

Derciim,  132. 

Deslandes,   172. 

Dessoir,  Max,   191. 

D'Estrez,  M.,  207. 

Diday,  05. 

Diderot,  23,  40. 

Distant,  W.  1...  50. 

Donkin,    144. 

Dowden,  41. 

Dm  :\laiirier.  39. 

Dudley,   119. 

Duflieux,  0(>. 

Dii^'^as,  (). 

Duliuire,  88. 

Duncan.  Matthews.  145. 

Durkheini.  .30.  78,  103.  211. 

Dnrr,   177. 

Dyer.    L.,    SS. 

Edwards,  W.  11..  2.!. 
Elbel,  200. 
Ellenberger,  54. 


Ellis.  Haveloek.  03.  133,  145.  101.   I  r4, 

218,  219. 
Ellis,  Sir  W..  179. 
Emin  Pasha.  37.  40. 
Enmiinghaus,  180. 
Epicharmus.  27. 
Erani.  115. 
Erb.  184. 
Ernst.  100. 
Esciuirol.  233. 
Eiilenburg,  180. 
Evans,  :\1.  ]S1..  17. 
Ewald.  91. 

Fasbender.  53. 

Fehlinu'.  53. 

Eeldkiilte,  W.,  89. 

Eel  kin.  R.  W.,  38. 

Fere,  114.  139,  145,  149.  100,  203. 

Fernel.    142. 

Ferrero.  24,  35.  143,  170. 

Ferriani,  107. 

Fewkes,  J.  W.,  So. 

Fielding,  H.,  88. 

Findley,  53. 

Fleishniann.  78. 

Fliess,  27,  53,  70,  70,  177. 

Forestus,  142. 

Folhergill.  J.  M.,  122,  132. 

Founiier.   121. 

Foville,   142. 

Frazer.  J.  G.,  89,  207.  209.  210. 

Ficenian.  R.  A.,  14. 

Freneh-Sheldon,  Mrs.,  12. 

Freud,  130.  149.  150.  151,  152,  153,  154, 

155,  100,  187. 
iM-iedreieh.  J.   H..  233. 
Fritseh,  G.,  115. 
Fiirbringer,  184. 

(lalen,   198. 

Gall,  OS,  192. 

Cardiner,  J.  S.,  9. 

(Jinland.  llauilin.  127. 

(Jarnier.  103.  172.  192.  200. 

Gason,  51. 

Gattel,  187. 

Gerard-Varet.  92. 

Gibbon.  224. 

Gillen.  8. 

Gilles  de  la  Toureile.  134.  135.  141.  142, 

144.  145,  140,  148,  151,  180. 
(Jiollredi,  150. 
(Jirandeau,   177. 
(ioeix'l,  105. 


INDEX. 


24T 


Goethe,  190. 

Goodell,  William,  214. 

Gould,  08. 

Gousset,  199. 

Gowcrs,  177,  183. 

Green,  24. 

Greenlees,  115. 

Griesinger,  177,  179,  180. 

Grinialdi,  34. 

Grimm,  J.,  89,  91,  93. 

Groos,  5,  21,  30. 

Grosse,  G. 

Gruner,  177. 

Grunfeld,  118. 

Gueniot,  53. 

Guerry,  78. 

Guise,  R.  E.,  86. 

Gury,  200. 

Guyau,  5. 


Haddon,  A.  C,  8. 

Hahn,  E.,  55,  89,  232. 

Haig,  A.,  03,  108.  109,  19i. 

Hall,  Stanley,  5,  39,  40,  218. 

Haller,  64. 

Hammond,  W.,  69. 

Hartmann,  56. 

Haycraft,  J.  B.,  96. 

Heape,  W.,  55,  56,  57,  58,  81,  84. 

Hegar,  143. 

Helbigius,  55. 

Herodotus,  16,  33. 

Herondas.  116,  117. 

Herrick,  39. 

Hersman.  132,  133. 

Herter,  36,  177. 

Hesiod,  100. 

Hill,  S.  A.,  55,  95,  90. 

Hime,  C.  W.,  171. 

Hippocrates,  65,  140,  142,  162,  186. 

Hirschsprung,  173. 

Hoche,  170. 

Holder,  A.  B.,  10,  52. 

Holm,  37. 

Holzmann,  200. 

Home,  Sir  E.,  180. 

Homer,  40. 

Hopkins.  H.  R.,  24. 

Houssay,  34. 


Howe,  J.  W.,  115. 

Letamendi,  111. 

Huchard,  145. 

Letourneau,  27,  37.  40 

Hufeland.  111. 

Lewis.  176,  177,  234. 

Hughes,  C.  H.,  132,  138,  234. 

Leyden,  183. 

Hutchinson.  J.,  45. 

Loiman.   188. 

Hyades,  11. 

Loliee,  88. 

Icard,  .35,  61,  64,  65,  66,  145.  147. 

Jacobi,  Mary  P.,  ()(). 

Jacobs,  116. 

Jaeger,  G.,  111. 

James,  142. 

James,  W.,  6. 

Janet,  Pierre,  126,  140,  149.  150,  158. 

Jastrow,  :\[orris  (Jr.),  52,  92,  128.  209. 

Jerome,  St.,  33. 

Joal,  177. 

Joest,  116. 

Johnston,  Sir  H.  H.,  12,  13,  8(i. 

Johnstone,  A.  W.,  57,  62,  82,  83. 

Jones,  Lloyd,  163,  164. 

Jortin,  20. 

Kaan,  111. 

Kahlbaum,  181. 

Keill,  68. 

Keith,  57. 

Kellogg,  172,  183. 

Kemsoes,  79. 

Kennedy,  Helen,  26. 

Kiernan,  J.  G.,  132,  180,  181. 

King,  A.  F.  A.,  158,  159,  160. 

Klemm,  K.,  12. 

Kline,  L.  W.,  102.  103. 

Koch,  J.  L.  A.,  181. 

Koster,  51. 

Kowelewsky,  M.,  90. 

KraflFt-Ebing,  66,  147,  181,  187.  234. 

Krieger,  53,  100. 

Kriechmar,  177. 

Kroner,  44. 

Kubary,  9. 

Kulischer,  81. 

i^acassagne,  101,  176. 

Lactantius,  17. 

Lallemand,  176. 

Landouzy,  142,  147. 

Landry,  41,  232. 

Laurent,  E.,  101. 

Laurent,  L.,  213,  215.  216. 

Laycock,  53,  67,  68,  70,  78,  80,  100.  143. 

Learovd,  Mabel,  126. 

Legludic,  101,  184,  185. 

Lepois,  C,  142. 


248 


INDEX. 


Lombroso,  12.  24,  35,  139,  143. 

Lorion,  116. 

Lucretius,  34. 

Luther,  130. 

Luzet,  162. 

Lydston,  123. 

MacGillieuddv,  125. 

Mackenzie,  J.  X.,  177. 

MacLean.  54. 

Malling-Hansen,  50,  104,  105. 

Man.  7.  11. 

Mannhardt,  89,  99. 

Mantegazza,  15,  27,  40,  51,  52,  57,  114. 

Marchi.  Attilio  de.  208. 

Mariani.  239.  240. 

Marie.  144.  234. 

Marro,  167,  181,  182. 

Marsh,  54. 

Marston.  117. 

Martial.  46. 

Martineau,  123.  184. 

Mason,  O.  T.,  11. 

Matignon,  15. 

Maudsley,  181. 

Mayr,  G.,  97.  i 

Melanethon,  257.  I 

Melinand,  44.  I 

Michelet.  141.  | 

Migne,  19. 

Mikhieho-iMacleay,  86.  ' 

Mirabeau,  118. 

Mitchell,  H.  ^\.,  58. 

Mitford,  16.  ! 

Modigliani,  7. 

Moli^re,  41. 

Moll,  A.,  56.  57,  61,  78,  111.  114.  122,  j 

130.  136,  172,  192. 
Mondi^re,  84,  116. 
Montague.  Lady  M.  W.,  22. 
Moraglia.  116,  166.  168,  173.  177. 
Morel,  234. 
Morris,  R.  T.,  120,  174. 
Morselli,  103,  2.34. 
Mortimer,  G..  27,  183. 
Morvson,  F.,  22. 
Miiller,  85. 
Murisier,  235. 

N-icke,  P.,  137,  138,  168,  170,  172.  181, 

183,  208. 
Nansen,  37. 
N^grier,  65. 

Nelson.  J..  51.  75,  76,  77.  79.  98. 
Xiccforo,  42,  167. 


Nicolas  of  Cusa,  67. 
Xippo,  Augustin,  100. 
Xonnan,  Conolly,  71,  234. 

Ogle,  104. 
Oliver,  63. 
Omer  Haleby,  199. 
Oribasius,  100. 

Paget,  Sir  J.,  130,  185. 

Pare,  A.,  142. 

Parke,  T.  H.,  14. 

Partridge,  43. 

Paulus  -Lgineta,  100. 

Pausanias.  128. 

Pearson,  K.,  89. 

Pechuel-Loesche,  14. 

Peckham,  105. 

Penta,  112. 

Perez,  28. 

Perry-Coste,  72,  76,  79,  99,  108. 

Peschel,  27. 

Peyer,  55,  176. 

Phillip,  187. 

Pierracini,  146. 

Pitres,  133,  134,  135,  147. 

Plant,  60. 

Plato,  17.  140,  162. 

Pliny,  212,  213. 

Ploss.  27,  60.  64,  85,  86,  96,  115,  207, 

208,  213. 
Plutarch,  17,  198. 
Pouchet,  60. 

Pouillet,  118,  119,  121,  172,  177. 
Poulet,  119. 
Power,  178. 

Priestley,  Sir  W.,  53,  54. 
Procopius,  20. 
Pvle,  68. 

Quetelet,  94. 

Rabelais,  89. 
Raciborski,  55,  60,  65. 
RatTalovich,  127. 
Ratzel,  27. 
Rr-gis,  234. 
Reinach,  S.,  29,  61. 
Rengger,  55. 
Renooz,  Celine,  4. 
Reverdin,  119. 
Reynolds,  R.,  159. 
Revs,  207. 
Ribot,  6. 


INDEX. 


249 


Richer,  142. 

Kichet,  30,  47. 

Kobinson,  58. 

Kohe,  132. 

Rohleder,  120,  121.   Hi.").  106,  167,  172, 

173,  182,  184,  1S7. 
Roland,  ^ladame,  129. 
Rosenstadt,  81,  90. 
Rosenthal,   147.    100. 
Rosse,  Irving,  24. 
Roth,  W.,  8,  9.  115. 
Rousseau,  23,  127,  170,  190. 
Roussel,  06. 
Routh,  A.,  54. 
Rudeck,  20,  21,  27. 
Rufus,  100. 
Rush,  161. 

Sanchez,  61,  120,  200. 
Sanctis,  Sante  de^  134. 
Sanctorius,  68. 
Savage,  176,  234. 
Savill,  T.  D.,  187,  189. 
Schellong,  8. 
Schomburgk,  207. 
Schrenck-Notzing,  125. 
Schroeder,  lis. 

Schroeder  Van  der  Kolk,  233. 
Schtile,  181. 
Schultz,  A.,  27. 
"Schurigius,  55. 
Schurtz,  40. 
Schwartz,  89. 
Scluveinfurth.  12. 
Scott,  Colin,  29. 
Selden,  224. 
Serieux,  125,  235. 
Sergi,  5,  6. 
Shaw,  Capel,  100. 
Shufeldt,  R.  W..  172,  177. 
Skene,  176.  177. 
Smith,  E.,  79.  80,  97,  108. 
Smith,  Robertson.  91,  206,  209. 
Sollier,  136,  139,  140,  156. 
Solon,  224. 
Soraerville,  7,  9. 
Sore],  53. 
Sormani,  95. 
Spencer,  Baldwin,  8. 
Spencer,  Herbert,  27. 
Spitzka,  172,  176,  182,  189. 
Sporer,  200. 

St.  Alphonse  de  Ligouri,  199. 
St.  Hilaire,  J.  G.,  55. 
St.  Jerome,  33. 


St.  Theresa,  235. 

St.  Thomas  Acjuinas,  129. 

Starbuck,  28,  231,  235. 

Stein,  Gertrude,  157,  158. 

Steinen,  K.  von  der,  10,  32,  37,  39,  44. 

Stendhal,  3. 

Stephenson,  68. 

Sterne,  42. 

Stevens,  H.  V.,  32,  35. 

Stieda,  163. 

Stirling,  8. 

Stockman,  163. 

Strack,  213. 

Sudduth,  172,  191. 

Susruta,  63. 

Sutherland,  A.,  9. 

Sutton,  Bland,  54,  55,  57,  62. 

Swift,  42. 

Sydenham,  142,  163. 

Tacitus,  217. 

Taine,  23. 

Tait,  Lawson,  60,  172. 

Tardieu,  185. 

Tautain,  10. 

Tertullian,  18,  36. 

Thucydides,  17. 

Thurm,  E.  im,  10. 

Tille,  A..  90,  93. 

Tillier,  114,  201. 

Tilt,  24,  27. 

Tissot,  172,  176,  179,  183,  188,  201. 

Toulouse,  184. 

Townsend,  C.  W..  123,  124. 

Tregear,  209. 

Treutler,  47. 

Turnbull,  192. 

Turner,  10. 

Uflelmann,  180. 

Valleix,  53. 

Vallon,  234. 

Van  der  Wiel,  55. 

Vedeler,  123. 

Velpeau,  52. 

Venturi,  4,  168,  201,  202. 

Viazzi,  4. 

Villagomez,  86. 

Villermay,  L.,  142. 

Villerme,  94,  95.  101. 

Virchow,  163. 

Vogel,  180. 

Voltaire,  176. 

Von  Oye,  177. 


250 


INDEX. 


Wade,  Sir  W.  F.,  C4. 

Wahl,  104. 

Waitz,  40.  44. 

Waitz-Gerland,  27. 

Wappiius,  94. 

Ward.  H.,  14. 

^Var<Jrentin,  94. 

\\  arinan,  141. 

Weisser.  8G. 

Wellhausen,  15,  36,  91,  209. 

Wenck,  Marv,  100. 

West,  C,  183. 

West,  J.  P.,  1G8. 

Westermarck,  G.  27.  38,  81.  84.  98,  211. 

W  ev.  H.  D.,  101,  102. 


Wicliniann,  100. 
Wifl,  \'an  der,  o3. 
AVigglesworth,  192. 
^\'illis,  142. 
\\  ilson.  J.  M.,  233. 
Wiltshire,  A.,  54.  81, 
ANinckel,  118,  177. 
Wollstonecraft.  M..  7 
Wood,  H.  C.  132. 
^\'right,  20. 

Yellowlees,  181,  183. 

Zache,  42,  208. 
Zeller,  17,  198. 


83. 


23. 


IXDEX  OF  SUBJECTS. 


Africa,  luoclesty  in,  12-15. 

sexual  periodicity  in,  85,  86. 
American    Indians,    menstruation    in, 
52-53. 

modesty  of.  10-11. 
Anaemia  and  hysteria,  162  et  seq. 
Andamanese  modesty,  7. 
Animals,  breeding  season,  82-84. 

heat  in,  60. 

hysteria  in,  145. 

masturbation  in,  114,  184. 

modesty  in,  28-29,  34. 
Annual  sexual  rhythm,  82  ct  seq.,  221 

et  seq. 
Apes,  masturbation  in,  114. 

menstruation  in,  55-57. 
Arab,  modesty,  14-15. 

ancient,  conception  of  uncleanliness, 
209. 
Arabian  festivals,  91. 
Araucanian  modesty,  47. 
Art  and  sexual  organs,  61. 
Asafetida.  141. 
Attitudes  passiotnielles,  153. 
Australia,  modesty  in,  7-8. 

sexual  festivals  in,  85. 


Baboon,  menstruation  in,  55-56. 
Babylonian  festivals,  91-92. 
Bashfulness,  27. 
Bathing,  promiscuous,  19. 
Beltane  fires,  89. 

Bengal,  sexual  periodicity  in,  86-87. 
Birth-rate,  94-97. 

Bladder,  foreign  bodies  in.  118-119. 
Blood,  menstrual,  supposed  virtues  of, 
212-213. 
primitive  ideas  about.  211. 
Blood-pressure,  63,  191. 
Blushing.  44-46. 
Bon-fire  festivals,  88-93. 
Bosom  in  relation  to  modesty,  14,  37. 
Brazil,  modesty  in,   10.  32. 
Bread  consumption,  periodicity  in,  105. 
Brum  alia,  88. 
Burmali.   sexual   periodicity  in.  88. 


Cambodia,    sexual    periodicity    in,    84. 
Catholic  theologians,  on  erotic  dreams, 
129. 

on  masturbation,  200. 
Celibacy  and  religion,  232. 
Ceremonial  element  in  modesty,  42,  48, 
Children,    masturbation    in,    120,    123, 
166-167,  174,  180. 

periodicity  of  growth  in,  78,  104-105. 

spring  fever  in,  102. 

their  lack  of  modesty,  27-28,  39. 
Chimpanzee,  menstruation  in,  57. 
Chinese  modesty,  15. 
Chlorosis  and  hysteria,  162-164. 
Christianity,  attitude  of,  toward  mas- 
turbation, 199. 

in  relation  to  modesty,  18-21. 
Christmas  festivals,  90,  91. 
Clothing  and  modesty,  2,  5,  39-40. 
Cod-piece,  1. 
Coitus,  and  masturbation,  184. 

and  menstruation,  60,  63-66. 

as  a  sedative,  191. 

often  painful   in  hysteria.   135,   147, 
160. 
Conception-rate,  81  et  seq. 
Continence,  importance  of,  198. 
Coquetry,  30,  34,  38. 
Crime,  periodicity  of,  101. 
Criminals,  masturbation  among,  167. 

sexual  outbursts  in,  101. 
Crow,  breeding  habits  of,  83. 
Cycling  in  relation  to   sexual   excite- 
ment. 122-123. 

Day-dreaming,  126-128. 

Deer,  breeding  habits  of,  82-83. 

Delectatio  nvwosa,  125. 

Diogenes,  198. 

Disgust  as  a  factor  of  modesty,  30-35, 

48,  64. 
Dogs,  breeding  season  of,  82. 
Dreams  and  sexual  periodicity,  75.  98- 

99,  219  et  seq. 


Ea-^ter  festivals.  SS.  91 


(•251) 


9^0 


INDEX. 


Eating,  modesty  in,  31-32. 
Eebolic  curve,  75  et  seq.,  21S  et  seq. 
Economic  factor  of  modesty,  40-41,  48. 
Epilepsy,  anciently  confused  with  hys- 
teria,  141. 

and  masturbation.  183. 
Erotic  dreams,  128-138. 

festivals,  85  et  seq. 
Esquimaux,  menstruation  in.  52. 

sexual  habits  of,  84. 
Evil  eye  and  modesty,  3G. 
Eve-disorders  and  masturbation.   176- 
178. 

Face  as  a  centre  of  modesty,  37,  46. 
Fear,  modesty  based  on,  27. 
Festivals,  erotic,  85  et  seq. 
Fools,  feast  of,  88. 

General  paralysis,  periodicity  of,  103. 
Globus  hystericus,  140. 
Goethe.  190. 
Gogol,  190. 

Greeks,  attitude  of.  toward  masturba- 
tion, 198. 

festivals  of,  88. 

modesty  among,  16-17. 
Growth,  periodicity  of,  104-105. 

Hair-pin   used    in   masturbation,    118- 

119. 
Hallucinations,  erotic,  132-137.  151. 
Heart  disease  and  menstrual  rhythm 

in  men,  71-75. 
"Heat"  in  animals,  54. 

relation  of,  to  menstruation.  54-60. 
82-84. 
Horse-exercise   as   a   cause    of   sexual 

excitement,  120. 
Horses,  masturbation  in.  114. 
Hottentots,  masturbation  among.  115. 
Hysteria,  and  chlorosis,  162-164. 
and  masturbation,  183. 
coitus  often  painful  in,  135-136. 
in  relation  to  sexual  emotions,   140 

et  seq. 
its  alleged  seasonal  prevalence,  100, 

159. 
nocturnal  hallucinations  of,  133-137. 

Illegitimate  births,  periodicity  of.  05. 
India,  conception-rate  in,  95. 
Insane,  masturbation  in  the,  168. 
modestv  in  the,  34. 


Insanity,  and  ma->turbation,  179  et  seq. 

periodicity  of,  103. 
Ireland,  modestv  in,  22,  40. 
Ishtar,  92. 
Italv.  modestv  in,  22. 

Japanese,  masturbation  among.  116. 
modesty,  16. 

Lapps,  menstruation  among,  52. 
Lizard  and  woman  in  folk-lore,  206- 
207. 

Macaque,  menstruation  in,  55-56. 
Mammary  masturbation,  114.  173. 
Maori,  modesty,  9. 

mythology,  208-:::09. 
Masturbation,    among    lower    human 
races,  114, 
as  a  sedative,  191  et  seq. 
combined   with    religious    emotions, 

233  et  seq. 
in  men  of  genius,  190. 
its  prevalence  among  animals.   114. 
methods  of,  116  et  seq. 
periodicity  of,  79. 
prevalence  of,  165  et  srq. 
symptoms  and  results  of,  175  rt  s«q. 
May-day  festivals,  91. 
^ledicean  Venus,  28. 
^lenstrual  blood,  supposed  virtues  of, 

212-213. 
Menstrual  cycle  in  men,  67  et  seq.,  218 

et  seq. 
^lenstruation,  and  hysteria,  147. 
and  modesty,  26. 
and  social  position  of  women,  205  et 

srq. 
cause,  doubtful,  57. 
in  animals,  54-57. 
infrequency   among   some   primitive 

peoples,  52-53. 
occasional    absence    in    health.    58, 

100. 
origin  of.  50-51. 
precocity  in,  167. 
primitive  theory  of,  208. 
regarded  as  a  process  of  purification, 

36. 
relation  of,  to  sexual  desire.  (>0-66, 

174. 
H'lation  to  ovulation,  58. 
Metabolism,    seasonal    influences    on, 

108. 
Midsummer  festivals,  89-92. 


INDEX. 


253 


M IttclHvh inrrz,  53-54. 
Mohammedan,   attitude   toward   mas- 
turbation, 195). 

modestj^  15. 
Monkeys,  breeding  season  of,  82,  84. 

masturbation  in,  114. 

menstruation  in,  55-57. 
Moon  and  menstruation,  50-52,  68. 
Moral  element  in  modesty,  41. 
Moritz,  K.  P.,  190. 
Mysticism,  235. 

Nagas,  modesty  of,  11. 

Nakedness  chaste  in  its  effects,  39. 

Xates  as  a  centre  of  modesty,  37. 

Negroes,  modesty  of,  12-14. 

Nervous  diseases  and  masturbation, 
177  et  scq. 

Neurasthenia  and  masturbation.  186- 
187. 

New  Britain,  sexual  periodicity  in,  86. 

New  Georgians,  modesty  among,  7. 

New  Guinea,  folk-lore  of  menstruation 
in,  207. 

New  Hebrides,  modesty  in,  9. 

Nias,  modesty  in,  7. 

Nicobarese  modesty,  11. 

Novel-reading,  alleged  sexual  perio- 
dicity in,  106-108. 

Nymphomania,  100. 

"Onanism,"  the  term,  111. 
Orang-outang,  menstruation  in,  55-56. 
Ornament  as  a  sexual  lure,  39. 
Ovaries  w^th  hysteria,  alleged  associa- 
tion of,  146. 
Ovulation  and  menstruation,  58. 

Papuans,  modesty  among,  8. 

sexual  periodicity  among,  86. 
Penis  siiccedanens,  117. 
PoUutio,  129. 
Polynesian  modesty,  9. 
Pregnancy,  menstrual  cycle  during,  70. 
Priestess,  woman  as,  216. 
Prostitutes,  masturbation  in.  167-168, 
173. 

modesty  of,  24,  35. 
Protestantism  and  masturbation.  200. 
Prurience  based  on  modesty.  42. 

Railway-traveling  as  a  cause  of  sex- 
ual excitement.  120-121. 
Rapes,  periodicity  of,  101. 


Iveligioii    and   sexual    emotions,   5,   60, 

120,  231   rt  seq. 
Rhythm,  49-50. 

Ritual  factor  of  modesty,  35-36. 
Romans,  modesty  of,  16-18. 
Rosalia,  88. 
Rousseau,  190. 

Russia,  conception-rale  in,  95. 
Rut,  54,  60. 

Samoyeds,  menstruation  among,  52. 
Saturnalia,  88. 

Scarlet  fever,  periodicity  of,  108. 
Schools,  masturbation  in,  169-172. 
Seasonal  periodicity  of  sexual  impulse, 

80  et  scq. 
Seduction  and  menstruation,  65. 
Seminal  emissions  during  sleep,  75-78, 

100,  128  et  seq. 
Serpent  in  folk-lore,  206. 
Sewing-machine  as  a  cause  of  sexual 

excitement,  121-122. 
Sexual  anesthesia,  66. 
Sexual  desire,  in  relation  to  hysteria, 
140  et  seq. 
in  relation  to  menstruation,   60-66. 
in  relation  to  season,  80  et  seq. 
monthly  periodicity  of,  in  men,  70- 
71,  224. 
Sexual  factor  of  modesty,  28. 
Sexual  organs,  difference  between  sav- 
age and  civilized  attitude  toward, 
61. 
Sleep   in   relation   to    sexual    activity, 

75-78. 
Snake  and  woman  in  folk-lore,  206  et 

seq. 
Sneezing  reflex,   152. 
Spring,    as   season   for   sexual   excite- 
ment, 80,  100. 
festivals,  85  et  seq. 
"Spring  fever,"  102. 
St.  John's  Eve,  festival  of,  89-92. 
Suicide,  periodicity  of,  78,  103. 

Tammuz  festival,  92. 
Thigh-friction,  123-124. 
Torres  Straits,  modesty  at,  8. 
Turkish  modesty,  22. 


Uncleanness,  primitive  conception  of, 
20S-209. 
j    Uric-acid  excretion,  periodicity  of,  108- 
1  109. 


254 


INDEX. 


yalentmians,  213.  Weekly  sexual  rhythm,  78,  227 

\  eilmg  lace,  origin  of  custom  of,  36.  Witches,  erotic  hallucinations  of.  135. 

rr  1          •         7 .    ..,  ^Vomb  witli  hysteria,  supposed  connec- 

Walpurgisnacht.  91.  :            tion  of,  140  et  seq. 


DIAGRAMS. 


DIAORAM&. 


257 


Chart  I.— The  Monthly  Ecbolic  Curve. 


17 


DIAGRAMS. 


259 


6f/?  OCTNOk 

'DEC.MN 

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APR.MAYJUN.JLY.AUGMP. 

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Chart   II.— The  Annual  Curve  of  the  Coneeption- 
ra'^e  in  Europe. 


DIAGRAMS. 


261 


Chart  III. — The  Annual  Ecbolic  Curve. 


FEBtMAR.APR.-MAY  JUNrJLY AUGrSEP.  OCT7NOV.  DEC:JAN.  FEBzMAR. 


3,300 -3ff 00 
3,^00-3,300 
3,100-3,200 
3000-3,100 


Chart  TV. — Curve  of  the  Annual  Incidence  of  Insanitv  in  London. 


Chart  V. — Curve  of  the  Annual  Incidence  of  (General 
Paralysis  in  Paris  (Garnier). 


DIAGRAMS. 


'>(y3 


oQ    ct:   ^'    >-'   ^*  -J    o  qJ   h-   ^  <-^ 


h^^:¥\ 


69: -^ 


ruu-i-i-iM 


r^ 


i^vH 


Chart  VI. — The  Suicide-rate  in  London. 


Chart  \\\. 


DIAGRAMS. 


265 


Chart  VIII. 


DIAGRAMS. 


267 


Dotted  line Sum  of  years  m6ySy,88y89,9J,9'' 

Broken  line   Sum  of  years  lS93M,0^,S6,9y. 

Contmuoud  line Sum  of  all  the  eleven  years. 


i■'y:^«^•i 


^  Bays  of  Lunar  Month.  ' 

||^'^%-1?  y  8  &  J0Jn2f3/4^J576nf8W£0Zl^23Z^25Z6^y2829^0 


I 


^  ;;    \[4\ 


!  \\\J 


mmw'^ 


Chart  IX. — Lunar-monthly  Rhythm  of  Male  Sexual 

Period. 


DIAGRAMS. 


269 


Pairs  Of  days  of  Lunar  Month, 


< 

30 

, 

■■■■■ 

29 

28 

zy 

m 

■ 
■ 

1 

■ 

-^ 

1 

■ 

■ 
■ 

■n 

IISII 

•■■' 

wm 
iiii 

nn 

■■.'■7') 

■ 
■ 

^ 

§^6 

R» 

/ 

■« 

■     v.? 

-h-Y 

-f 

S  ^'\ 

/ 

'  1  1      " 

\ 

/  \ 

g.5 

%23 

^22 

'^21 

20 

ID 

1^ 

I 

1 

f- 

'4 

- — — 

IIHS 

4 

II 

I 

1 

/ 

■ 

f        "    ■  -^r- 

1 
I 

1 

/ 

' ' 

t.-.  ■  jE 

H 

• 

^_r        E 

F 

\f 

Ch. 

VRT 

X.- 

SllK 

-Cur 
>oth< 

ves 

* 

of    I 
-  tak 

.una 
:ing 

r-mo 
Pair 

nthly    R 
s  of  Day; 

liyth 

3. 

ni    as 

DIAGRAMS. 


271 


Chart  XIa. — Weekly  Rhythm  of  Male  Sexual  Period. 


DIAGRAMS. 


27;i 


iV^  Of  obsen^aMone. 

',  ^  >g  Cc  «tik  t.  c^  v^  Qo  to  <S 




.WED.  \% 

\thr.  h' 


MON, 

TUE. 

-^WED. 
77//?. 

-f-\FRI . 
SAT. 

J—MON. 


-,uu. 


\WED.  U 
THR.     '^ 


-.SAT. 
-SUN. 
-HON. 
-TUE. 
-WED. 

]thr. 

-FRI  . 
ASAT. 


1 

L__ 

i 

i 

-4 

r  ~  1 

1 
1 

t 

j 

1 
1 

! 

!  """"1 

1 

— - 
1 

! .-  ;-.-. 

LJ 

1 

1 

!       J 

1       ■       : 

_, ..  i 

,    I    \MnN. 

\^TUE. 

I     I     THR. 

_i \ \fri  . 

^J^^SAT. 

I     i    ISUN. 
_^ i^lMON. 

I     I     TUE. 

'    '  Awed. 

THR. 

S.^ FRI . 

Ay  .SAT. 


Chabt  XIb.— Weekly  Rhythm  of  Male  Sexual  Period. 


DIAGRAMS. 


Chakt  XII.— Weekly  Rhythm  of  Male  Sexual  Period. 


m 


>. 


'^■ 


'MS^ 


m 


;^' 


w 


9^ 


mt^ 


tN 


•^ 


\^ 


?^v 


^^c5)  "- 


-^A 


>^^^ 

r5^ 


\i  - 


^h'Wr. 


'J^ 


m 


m-- 


^^. 


^^' 


mc^  ^-^. 


t^: 


•^ 


'^ 


"i;S(^  .p^ 


.'7 


m